The Shining Stars: Dreams
by Mizerx
Summary: Sequel to The Shining Stars: After eight months has passed since the fierce battle, Akatsuki are reunited once again. The hunt for the nine demonic beasts begins and every village is suddenly alert. A new organization is formed to battle Akatsuki at the same time as four people in darkness begin their evil plans to reanimate the Uchiha army and legendary shinobi throughout history.
1. Chapter 1: White Birds

**Notes: **This is the sequel of **The Shining Stars** and takes place six months after the first installement. Please be aware of that some of the contents in this fiction are ignoring the events of Naruto, Naruto: Shippuden and the original manga. This story is updated every monday with a new chapter + corrections and edits to previous chapters.

**Do not read this part if you have not read the first one, or you can read a quick summary of the entire first part right now! s/9882389/26/The-Shining-Stars**

**-l-** = Skip, later or moving on.

**Warning: **This story may spoil any future events of the anime (not the manga). This story also contains blood, cursing and violent action.

**Title:** The Shining Stars: Dreams.  
**Author:** Me - Mizerx.  
**Fandom: **Naruto.  
**Rating:** Rated T.  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, nor will I ever claim it. The original writer of the series is Kishimoto Masashi and he owns everything that is related to the original anime, movies and manga. I have no intention of stealing anything.

* * *

During the night can you see the stars shining, always so lucid and bright. It blesses the world with light during the dark hours of the day. The great silence always grants calmness to those who wants it during the night - always so soothing. The clouds hiding in the darkness, making you believe there is only a night sky of stars. For a certain someone, when the night and darkness approaches, for this someone is everything illuminated.

* * *

**8 months - 6 months ago.**

"Your little brother will now forever live as a part of me. ITACHI, YOU WILL SEE WHAT I AM TRULY CAPEABLE OF!"

**-l-**

"AKATSUKI!"

"AKATSUKI!"

AKA-AKATSUKI!''

Orochimaru laughed like he was out of his mind. He could barely pronounce the name of their organization because of his hysterical laugh. Suddenly, he stopped laughing. He looked up at the sky and was now looking completely serious.

"You will all see."

**-l-**

"Akatsuki, you destroyed the Hidden Sound. You all worked hard and came together at the end, destroying Orochimaru. You have all earned your time off, we will meet again in six months. Dismissed."

**-l-**

"Konan, where did you go when you left the Hidden Rain Village?"

"Somewhere where I had to go. Nagato."

**-l-**

_That man who stood in the shadows, his eyes... _Lumi thought as she looked over to Pain.

**-l-**

"Orochimaru was defeated."

"Well, it's about time. I have waited for it for a while." The man in the darkness responded, opening his eyes.

**-l-**

"The reanimation of Madara, Shisui and our army can soon begin. Right Kabuto and Tobi?"

Kabuto and Tobi appeared from behind Zetsu. Kabuto had white snake skin, horns and Sharingan. Tobi had Rinnegan, Mangekyo Sharingan and wore the outfit of Madara Uchiha.

"Yes, with Orochimaru's powers that you have gifted me. I am more than ready."

* * *

**Present.**

The night was young but it was still a dark summer night.

"It looks like we have to return to work." Announced a cocky voice.

"Has it been six months already?" Asked a dull voice.

"Yes, it has." Replied the cocky voice.

Two men wearing long black cloaks with a chin-high collar, red clouds printed all over it, a red interior, a conical straw hat with small ornamental torques and tassels hanging down over their faces and both of them had a ring on one of their fingers with one of them saying "south" and the other "scarlet" - were walking through a town with many inhabitants.

"Where were we going to meet the rest of the organization Kisame?"

"Land of Rivers, Itachi." Replied the man as he was smiling.

"So are we going to begin on capturing the demon beasts?" Asked Itachi.

"It appears so."

"I see." Itachi replied as he looked up so that his black and red eyes were visible.

* * *

At the middle of a room next to a bed lied Hidan on the wooden floor. He lied in a symbol painted on the floor with blood, his eyes were closed and he had a capacious metal spear in his heart. On the yellow wall were a nude brunette hanging with both her hands pinned on the wall by another spear.

Hidan were murmuring a bunch of words of an unknown language and smiling with true jubiliation. Suddenly he heard something from outside. In anger, he opened his eyes, pulled out the metal spear from his heart and threw it on the Akatsuki cloak lying on the bed. He didn't care if there were blood coming from a big hole in his chest, one does not simply interrupt Hidan's rituals. As he arrived at the window that were right next to the dead woman hanging on the wall, he saw a flock of white birds chirping.

_It has been six months already? Oh for the love of Jashin! Damn these blasted heathens who think they can just walk over my religion whenever they want to. _In anger, Hidan walked inside a door leading to a bathroom.

* * *

In a crowded bar with people, alcohol and empty glasses at all corners - were Deidara. Sitting and drinking from a glass of simple bear by the bar, he could not help but to get bothered by the people behind him talking about how the Akatsuki defeated Orochimaru and have mysteriously vanished. First of all, Akatsuki is on a vacation and second of all, don't talk about that organization when a member happened to be sitting not so far away from you - a member who were forced to join.

_That's it, I am out of here. Yeah. _Deidara rose up from his seat and started heading for the door.

Suddenly he felt someone grab his arm and he turned around to see five large guys with tattoes and enormous muscles.

"Hey you little punk, you didn't pay for that beer you just drank."

"Oh my apoligies. But how about I offer you a piece of my work instead of money? Yeah." Deidara said as he took out a small clay bird from his pocket and showed it to the large man.

The men started laughing. "Are... are you-you stupid or something? Haha!"

"I see." Deidara replied and handed him thousands of ryou as he threw the bird in a garbage can next to the door leading out. The man was shocked to see such a large amount of money but couldn't fully comprehend what was going on til Deidara had walked out of the bar.

As Deidara were following a road leading down to the town he was staying in, he lift up two fingers and the bar behind him exploded and started burning. He smiled for himself when he heard the people in there screaming of the searing pain. He unbuttoned the top of his cloak as he looked up to let some air in when he suddenly saw a flock of white birds flying above him in circles.

_Is it time already, damn it. Now will Sasori be all over me again and force me to prepare and prepare. _Deidara sighed.

* * *

Walking through the woods, heading to the hideout of Akatsuki in Land of Rivers was Sasori in his Hiruko puppet. Of course was he the first one to arrive, even before receiving the summons of Pain. Walking as slowly as always, he was heading to the hideout that was not so far from Land of Wind.

_Note: This is the hideout/location where Sasori fought Chiyo and Sakura in the series._

_Now I have to start working with Deidara again, the most provocative person in this world. _Sasori kept on walking, getting closer to his destination. _Since Orochimaru was defeated, Akatsuki has changed a bit - not because every member got more powerful but also because the battle against the Hidden Sound was our hardest fight this far. If me and Deidara wouldn't have arrived in time, the other members would either capitulate or die, who would've thought that Orochimaru would've gained such an enourmous power by just getting the Sharingan? Even one of my puppets of my 100 Puppets set has the Sharingan and he is just as normal as the other ones, but Orochimaru got to an higher level with experiments. His abilities and forbearence were examplery. Orochimaru murdured and absorbed Itachi's brother who was precocious and the result was the battle against Orochimaru with seven of the members of our organization. Then there is Kabuto, who served Orochimaru all along and had me fooled, what an perfidious brat. _

Sasori reached the cave and saw a large rock covering the entrance with a seal tag on it.

_Who knows what battles we will fight now. I am not to worry though, I have now the perfect tag team in store with a spirit weapon - things will get challenging this year, I can tell for sure. _Sasori lift up two fingers and the rock suddenly moved away and wasn't blocking the entrance anymore. Standing before him was Pain, Konan and someone else in the darkness who he couldn't see, but it wasn't someone he knew.

"Greetings, Sasori." Pain said calmly as he bowed his head with Konan.

* * *

In a wooden cabin located in the middle of the woods in Land of Tea, resides Kakuzu. Sitting in an old fashioned red armchair, Kakuzu was reading a book which seemed to be old as well. The armchair was right next to a wall with a window. He wore a green coat, blue slippers and focused on reading the book. Despite being calm and silent, he still had his aggressive look on.

Kakuzu's attention was suddenly drawn to the window as he saw a flock of white birds flying around the cabin and chirping. He recognized them immediately, it was the summons of Pain. He closed the book and put it on the small table next to the armchair and rose up from his seat.

_So, the time has come at last. Time to wake up the diligent part of me and start collaborating with the intrepid, rancorous and brusque brat._

* * *

_Who would've thought that after all these years, Akatsuki would've become my one and only asylum? Someone who is clairvoyant shouldn't even had seen it coming. All these years, I was always so canny, and yet I was discovered by Pain. Forbearance, that was the only thing that defined me. But what was I exactly awaiting? Then there is that other man, the man who stood in the shadows under those trees - the man who possessed the Rinnegan as well. How was I so easily targeted even when I have been thought to be dead ever since I abandoned my old home?_

Lumi were sitting at the top of a cliff, with a massive forest surrounding it. She took off the headband and stared at the symbol of Hidden Cloud, which of course had that scratch that one of her former best friends had made.

_Maybe I have no asylum. Akatsuki may only be nothing else but an alternate path of destiny - I have however been nothing but darkness myself before I joined the organization. During my life as an rogue ninja, I've gained sagacity, prosperity and been intrepid since that cursed day. Of course, all my resources had to be offered to the organization. _

Tears started running from Lumi's eyes and fell down on the symbol of Hidden Cloud.

_My mother, father and remaining friends were killed of that damn village. I was not fortuitous, but I gained fortitude. _

Lumi suddenly noticed a flock of white birds flying above her in circles. She rose up and put the headband back on as she was staring at the starry night sky with a determined look.

_I should get going before sunrise. _She jumped down from the cliff, and in a blink of an eye, she was gone.


	2. Chapter 2: Sage of Six Paths

"After six long months, we have all been reunited once more. I welcome all of you back."

In Akatsuki's hideout of Land of Rivers, in a small chamber, were all of the nine members gathered. Pain and Konan were the only ones standing as the rest of the organization were seated on their usual seats. The chamber was dark with only one torch at every wall, a stone table at the middle with the seats surrounding it and a smaller table infront of the big one where Konan had put all of the reports of each member.

Every member remained silent, Sasori in the Hiruko puppet were staring scarily and agressively at the members around him, Itachi kept his head down with his glowing red and black eyes, Lumi were staring down on the stone floor with her now blinded eyes and Hidan were staring at Kakuzu while raising one eyebrow.

"The last time we were all working, we all fought against the Hidden Sound and defeated a defected member of our organization: Orochimaru. After have been reading each member's report of the battle, I could see why defeating him was not an easy task - it was tough, amicable. He caused capacious damages to the members who battled him, but when you all collaborated - he was taken down. He was not only taken down because you all were too much for him to handle, but also because he was pretentious, it blinded him and he stopped acknowledging the strengths of us."

"Orochimaru was nothing else but a fool, he betrayed and challenged us - leading to his fall." Sasori added.

"Precisely. He was at the bitter end tenacious." Pain nodded. "Those who remain loyal to Akatsuki will I forever have reverence for, even if you are impertinent or cocky. And traitors shall gain deep discredit and misfortune."

"Orochimaru was a fool to believe that he could've possibly defect Akatsuki and think the risks would be low." Kakuzu added.

"Says the man who lost four of his hearts in an instant." Hidan murmured to himself.

"Precisely. I can feel that each member here will remain here and follow the path of the awakanening of Ten Tails." Pain said as every member were nodding carefully and remained silent.

_Ten Tails... _Lumi thought.

"The statue that I had summoned forth in the larger chamber of this hideout is known as the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, it is the empty vessel of Ten Tails. With it, we will capture all the hosts of every tailed beast and use it to absorb the chakra from the jinchuriki. It will require all of our power to increase the process of extracting and sealing the tailed beasts inside of it. For every tailed beast we have sealed, we will get one step closer to awakening Ten Tails."

"But how are we going to be able to control Ten Tails?" Kisame asked.

"We will get to that eventually, we will prepare heavily before sealing the last and remaining tailed beast."

"So how is everything exactly summarized?" Itachi asked.

"We will begin with capturing all of the jinchuriki, and they will be brought to one of our hideouts, still alive. Four teams will get to capture two tailed beasts and the last one will capture only one. Once the jinchuriki has been brought back to a certain hideout, we will begin the sealing process by using a sealing technique that I have developed. Once every tailed beast has been sealed, the revival of Ten Tails will begin, and that is when we get to the second stage of our goal."

"The tailed beasts possess divine power, isn't this a bit too risky for only two members to go against?" Lumi asked.

"They do, but so do we." Pain replied in a confident tone.

_Divine power... it is your eyes, you possess the eyes of Sage of Six Paths._ Lumi thought.

_Hell yeah divine power, finally Jashin gets some credit. _Hidan thought as he smiled for himself.

The members remained silent, thinking of how this journey will end. About one year ago, they would go after the tailed beasts - but Pain hadn't clearly explained the full first stage of their plans, not even Hidan knew half of it until this meeting.

_Ten Tails is the combination of all of the tailed beasts together, that is what true divine power is. But what is Pain exactly planning, is he planning on sealing Ten Tails inside of him and become the new Sage of Six Paths? Or will he tame it in some way? He is definitely not following the path that Madara had left for him._ Kisame thought.

_The connection between Ten Tails and the Rinnegan is so powerful, so what exactly is going to happen?_ Lumi thought.

* * *

**Flashback of Lumi.**

"How do you know who I am and how did you learn of my abilities?" Lumi were standing inside a dark cave with Pain, Zetsu and Tobi behind her. It was still not completely dark outside but it was getting darker, meaning that she was in her blinded state.

"We understood that you were spying on our organization, but while you were doing it, Zetsu were spying on you." Tobi explained.

"Then why haven't you killed me yet?" She asked.

"We know you have no allies, we are also aware of what you are capeable of and that you're an S-ranked criminal from Hidden Cloud." Replied Zetsu.

"The legendary Lumi Dalion who left the mighty village hidden in clouds in ruins for months." Pain added.

"If it is a battle you're looking for then-"

"We want you to join the Akatsuki." Pain interuppted.

"Why would you want me to join?" Lumi asked.

"We know you have no destiny to follow, and we can assure you that the path we have to offer is a path that lasts forever." Tobi added.

_Obito Uchiha, you know nothing that I know about you._ Lumi thought.

"How would it benefit me personally?"

"You get allies, duties, resources and greater power." Zetsu replied.

"I don't care about any of those things, they mean nothing to me." Lumi replied, still standing still and looking away.

Suddenly her eyesight came back as the last ray of light from the sun disappeared.

_Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation! _Lumi performed hand seals, jumped back and turned around at the same time as she blew out an enourmous amount of fire from her mouth.

She kept on blowing out the great awesome fire when suddenly she heard some weird sound coming from her targets. She stopped blowing out the fire when she noticed another man who looked like Pain sucking in the fire like a vacuum cleaner infront of him.

_A fourth person? I only sensed three of them, but how come I still sense only three chakras in this cave when there are four of them infront of me? _

"We are not here to fight Lumi, we have acknowledged your power, we want you in the organization." Pain said.

Lumi were about prepare another jutsu when suddenly she saw the eyes of Pain and the fourth man who looked like Pain but a bit chubbier with piercings on other places of his body.

_The Rinnegan..._

**Flashback ends.**

* * *

"We have a new member to introduce as well who will from this day on be teamed up with Lumi Dalion." Pain announced, making Lumi snap back to reality. "Our new member comes from Hidden Grass Village and possess an large amount of unique abilities. He specializes in medical and fighting ninjutsu, almost as experienced as Kakuzu. Every member must respect our new member as he will do the same for you, Akatsuki, greet our new member, Kane Sarutobi." Pain announced, sounding as dull as ever.

A man wearing the Akatsuki uniform and a Hidden Grass headband with a scratch on it walked in through the door behind Konan and Pain. He had a ponytail, his hair was black, he had tanned skin, he had golden fierce eyes, powerful body structure, he looked aggressive and he was almost as tall as Kakuzu and Kisame.

"Kane, Lumi Dalion will be your new partner for the upcoming missions. It is rare of us to trust such a new member as you with the organization's goals but we expect great things of you."

"I understand." Kane replied. His voice was dark and scaring.

"Go and sit down next to her." Pain said as he pointed at an empty chair next to Lumi. Kane nodded and walked over to the chair and sat down.

_That means I will be stuck with Kakuzu alone again. _Hidan thought in disappointment.

_That means I will be stuck with Hidan alone again. _Kakuzu thought in disappointment.

"New supplies has been put in your own personal chambers, such as maps, private ninjutsu scrolls that I have developed and perfected that I want you all to learn and summoning scrolls that can summon weapons, tools and even sealed ninjutsus that was prepared by me."

"Exactly what do you mean by private?" Hidan asked.

"You are so stupid!" Deidara shouted out as he raised a fist.

Hidan were now getting angry.

"No point Deidara." Itachi suddenly interuppted, stopping Hidan from shouting back. "Private to our organziation."

Hidan calmed down and closed his eyes. _They are so stupid, Pain could've been more specific, do they even know what specific means? Sigh, heathens._

"The summoning scrolls will give you access to high level weapons that may be risky to use, Konan prepared a list for each team with what the scrolls contains and details on how to learn the ninjutsu scrolls - everything is in your chambers."

_Nagato is taking this very seriously._ Konan thought.

"Furthermore, now when we have Kane in our organization - he will aid us with his medical abilities."

Kisame stared at Kane. _I was unable to sense his chakra before he entered the room, I wonder why. _Kisame smiled now almost a bit too much that his teeth were visible.

"Kakuzu and Hidan, you are both assigned to capture the jinchuriki of Hidden Sand - the Kazekage Gaara and the jinchuriki of Hidden Mist - Utakata. Itachi and Kisame, you are both assigned to capture the first jinchuriki of Hidden Cloud - Yugito Nii and the jinchuriki of Hidden Waterfall - Fuu. Lumi and Kane, you two are assigned to capture Three Tails who currently has no host and the second jinchuriki of Hidden Cloud - B."

Lumi remained motion and emotionless, despite the fact that she would now be the murdurer of the only person who still didn't despise her of her old home. Was Pain though doing this on purpose? To test Lumi?

"Sasori and Deidara, you two will get to capture the two jinchurikis of Hidden Stone - Roushi and Han. Me and Konan will deal with the jinchuriki of Hidden Leaf - Naruto."

* * *

"Sasuke... is dead?"

In the Village Hidden in the Leaves, in Fifth Hokage's office were Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki standing, facing Tsunade Senju with Kakashi Hatake next to her. After had spotted a rotten corpse of Sasuke Uchiha's body in Land of Sound by Leaf's Anbu Black Ops - it spread quickly around the globe and it was up to Tsunade to announce it before the news reached Naruto and Sakura by itself.

Taking of her glasses and carefully putting it on her desk, Tsunade explained to the two confused, lost and shocked teenagers who had spent years hunting and waiting for news of their former best friend. Kakashi remained calm but at the same time energized as he was prepared for anything, when suddenly, the worst started happening.

Naruto, breathing heavily in panic and out of powerful and fast heartbeats - whose eyes turned red and lips black, with a red chakra that looks like a form of substance and forming itself to the cloak of Nine Tails - were transforming into the Nine-Tailed Fox.


	3. Chapter 3: Reanimation

The sun was shining, it was warm and a little cloudy day. The soothing sounds of the rivers, birds, wind playing with the leaves and grass enlightened a body within a second.

Ten members of Akatsuki plus five other Pains were standing outside the now blocked entrance of their hideout in Land of Rivers, located close to Land of Wind. Every member were standing next to their partner and they stood in a circle, facing each other. Every member of the now reunited organization were wearing a thick leather belt around their waist with one large bag at the back of the belt containing scrolls, weapons and tools.

_Note: Just like the original members of Akatsuki did during the leadership of Yahiko.  
__Note: Sasori is in his Hiruko puppet, but where his real body is, that is where he is wearing the belt.  
__Note: Nagato is using the same six Pains as in Pain Invasion Arc._

"Before we get started with our missions, does anyone have any last minute questions?" Pain had reminded the members once more who their targets were for each team. Staring at the faces of the members, he could tell that no one seemed worried, except for Lumi Dalion - just like he expected.

"When we have captured an jinchuriki or tailed beast, are we supposed to come back to this hideout or use any communication jutsu?" Kane asked. Kane Sarutobi, their newest member whom is mysterious to the veteran members. Despite looking like an grown adult, it felt at the same time that he was young. Pain had pointed out that he had tons of experience that were almost as great as Kakuzu's and several unique abilities. Akatsuki is as well an organization for S-ranked criminals, this was someone who none of the members knew about, not even Kakuzu himself who is known for his fetish for money and bounty hunting. Another plus is that he is teamed up with Lumi Dalion, another member who was still mysterious to the other members.

"The jinchuriki or tailed beast will be brought back to this hideout where I will have one of my six pains awaiting. When that happens, we will all use the Magic Lantern technique after I have sent out my summonings. And then begin the sealing of the tailed beast or jinchuriki that were the latest one to be captured. We will begin with sealing One Tail which is now sealed within the Kazekage in the Land of Wind, which is right next to this country, meaning that Kakuzu and Hidan will probably be the first ones to capture a jinchuriki. After that, we will change our location for the next extraction and so on." Pain explained.

"Some of the jinchuriki we are supposed to find has unknown locations. What are we going to do about that?" Kakuzu asked. He didn't seem to like this mission, knowing that all of the jinchuriki has great bounty rewards.

"Some of the scrolls you were given contains intel and reports of what the targets are capeable of and where they were last seen. You will have plenty of time to study them as you travel around the countries." Pain replied.

_Study? _Hidan did not like the sound of that.

"Can we get going already? Yeah."

"Dismissed." In an instant everyone was gone.

* * *

"What?! Akatsuki killed Orochimaru?"

In the Village Hidden in the Leaf, the great shinobi known as Jiraiya were facing Tsunade Senju in her office.

"Yes, about half a year ago."

"And you are telling me this now Tsunade?"

Tsunade did not reply to Jiraiya, just stared down on the floor - hiding that she is just as shocked that Orochimaru was taken down after all these years.

_How were they able to kill Orochimaru so fast, only four months? I heard about the Land of Sound massacre, but I never imagened it was Akatsuki who were behind it._

"Wait a minute, Orochimaru can't die. He mastered that forbidden cursed jutsu!"

"One member of Akatsuki cheated immortality, Akatsuki's loyal member Sasori of the Red Sand turned Orochimaru to his puppet and so was Orochimaru's soul unable remain."

"Sasori? Is that man still alive? He deserted Hidden Sand years ago and was never seen again."

"We still do not know much about the members of Akatsuki, Sasori shocked us just as much as the death of Orochimaru."

"Damn it." Jiraiya were sweating.

_What more members does Akatsuki have? We only know of Itachi, one of the last remaining Uchiha, Kisame, one of the last remaining Seven Swordmen and Sasori, the most dangerous puppetmaster this world knows of. Shikamaru reported that the team fought three unknown members in one of their hideouts in Land of Tea after had received a mission to get intel on the organization. One of the members were a master of fighting with weapons, could link bodies and was immortal. The second one had speed and strength beyond a shinobi's level, could harden his skin as hard as diamond. The third one had abilities that were never revealed except for the fact that they mentioned that it was she who had tracked Team Asuma down upon their attempt to escape._

"Akatsuki are not joking around with us, they are not joking around with any nation or village, they are a true nightmare. That is why the council, including me agreed to form an organization whose top priority is defeating the Akatsuki."

"An organization, just like Akatsuki and Hidden Sound?"

"Yes, but without an army. An organization with shinobi of high class and skills - like Akatsuki." Tsuande explained. You could tell that the news of the fall of Hidden Sound had really touched her soul.

"Why an organization while we have already an entire village of great shinobi?"

"Akatsuki are seriously powerful and sending out our entire village would result in death for many of our men and women." Tsunade replied in a weak tone.

"Why are you telling me this?" Jiraiya asked in a confused tone.

"You are one of Hidden Leaf's most strongest shinobi." Tsunade rose up from her chair slowly with a serious look and walked to the window behind her desk. Jiraiya now paid more attention to see where this was going. "Since we are forming an organization of our most skilled shinobi, you had to be picked to join as well. You are the most powerful shinobi alive from our village, that is why we decided that you should be the leader."

"Wait, wait. Is this a jo-"

"DAMN IT JIRAIYA!" Tsunade turned around swiftly and slammed the desk, making it shatter to many pieces and the items that were on it fell on the floor along with the pieces of the table.

"Thousands are losing their lives! They will come for us eventually, do you want to see our home that our ancestors put their dreams in to be destroyed?!"

_Tsunade is not joking around, she is dead serious about this. But lead an organization to fight against the Akatsuki? It looks like I do not have a choice._

"Fine. I will go along with it." Jiraiya replied calmly, trying to calm down the now deleterious Tsunade.

"Good." She was no calm.

"But I have conditions that must be accepted or else am I refusing." He said, suddenly his voice was half threatening.

"What conditions?" She asked in a violent tone.

"I want to pick the shinobi to join my new organization. I want to decide the rules and the name of the organization. I want to decide the uniform the members must wear. And I want us to have access to Hidden Leaf's greatest powerful treasures - weapons and armor." Jiraiya was now crossing his arms.

_Is this man crazy? It is forbidden to use the weapons the past kages and legends left for us to keep as a memory of them. The treasures could fall into the wrong hands or get destroyed in combat. _

"Done, done, done and no." Tsunade had made up her mind, giving away the greatest artifacts Hidden Leaf possess would be an insane move.

"Tsunade, I know that the past kages left all of the tools as a memory of them, but the weapons has great power and we are in a desperate time."

"I don't know Jiraiya." Tsunade were suddenly completely calm and looked a bit sad.

"I have a feeling that a war is coming soon. That will not only involve Hidden Leaf and Akatsuki, but also the surrounding nations and some other nasty people." Jiraiya was completely serious, what was the reason for Akatsuki destroying Hidden Sound?

"A war?" She suddenly sounded confused and shocked.

"Yes, I mean think about. Why do you think Akatsuki would kill Orochimaru?"

"Because he was a traitor of their organization?"

"And because they wanted to eliminate the biggest threat to their organziation that is not a village."

_That makes does make sense. It would be foolish to just focus on Orochimaru because of a vendetta. They wanted to get rid of their enemies who do not belong to any village any longer._

"So you mean that they are planning something?"

"Exactly."

Tsunade took a deep breath and walked back to the window. It was quiet.

"Fine, I will talk with the council regarding the artifacts you want to get access to." Tsunade looked determined.

* * *

In a dead large area of Land of Demons, with no sign of life, no trees, bushes, grass, animals, insects - nothing. All that was in this cold environment was rocks, sand, bones of humans and unknown creatures, rocks and caves. The clouds were blocking all of the light coming from the sun and it was raining a little bit.

"I will present to you what I have to offer, partner." Walking out from one of the poorly constructed brown caves was a man in a red robe with a hood on and a large white snake sticking out under the robe, a man with a white mask with black rings, wearing some sort of an blue uniform, a man who was black on his right side and white on his left side of the body, wearing a black robe with a large green unknown... thing sticking out of it and a man who were behind them covered by the shadows.

"I acknowledged your abilities and deemed you worthy to collaborate with me, do not disappoint me." Replied the man covered by the shadows.

"I will do my best." Said the man with a red robe in a confident and cocky tone.

"Good."

Three of them were now outside the cave while the fourth one remained inside the cave in the shadows, with nothing visible except his eyes - the Rinnegan. The masked man and half black, half white man remained by the entrance of the cave while the man with a hooded red robe walked out to the empty dry sandy ground.

_Trust me, you will not be disappointment. Reanimation Jutsu!_

The man with a hooded red robe put his hands together, the ground started shaking and behind him emerged hundreds of coffins from the ground, each coffin was wooden and had something written on it. Suddenly every "door" to the coffins fell down on the ground infront of them at the same, creating a large sand cloud around them. The man with a hooded red robe spread his arms out as the masked and half white, half black man were impressed and shocked by the amount of impressive reanimations he has presented.

"Your presentation is indeed not pointless, Kabuto. Your specialty will come in handy." The man in the darkness complimented.

"I have spent years collecting these precious corpses and their DNA samples with Lord Orochimaru, my presentation of my unique sets of shinobi should be praised as divine power - Reanimation Jutsu is a jutsu that will be written in history books." Kabuto replied. _But just you wait what I got in store for you and "Madara". "_My reanimated army includes shinobi who are legendary thanks to their remarkable strengths. The Gold and Silver Brothers, four of the past Kages, the nine past jinchuriki, White Fang of the Leaf, Salamander of the Rain and many, many others."

"Do not waste our time Kabuto, you know what we want to see." The masked man interuppted.

"My how rude you are, Madara, oh well, as you wish." Kabuto put his hands together again. Two coffins emerged from the ground right infront of him. The coffin doors fell down on the ground. Inside the two coffins were a young body of Madara Uchiha and Shisui Uchiha.

"These two are my finest reanimations; Madara and Shisui Uchiha - two legendary Uchiha shinobi of the Village Hidden in the Leaves." _If it wasn't for my little Rinnegan friend, I would've never had found Shisui's body._

"I apoligize for doubting you Kabuto, looks like you are powerful already, with or without the power of Orochimaru. But I can tell that you are indeed surreptitious" The man in darkness complimented as he walked back inside the cave, and was followed by Zetsu and Obito.

_Just as I thought, they are not interested in the military might that I have to offer, what they really want is Madara and Shisui. How I wonder what that man is up to. _Kabuto took off the hood, revealing his Mangekyo Sharingan that once belonged to Sasuke Uchiha. Suddenly he put his hands together again and next to Madara's and Shisui's coffins appeared ten more. The first four coffins' text said "Followers", the fifth said "First", the sixth said "Second", the seventh said "Brother, the eigth said "Sister", the ninth said "Mother" and the tenth said "Father". _With these reanimations, they won't know what hit them. _Kabuto smiled widely, too widely.

As Obito and Zetsu were following the man in darkness, they got deeper in the cave that were leading to their hideout.

_That fool Kabuto, if he is planning on using Madara against me, he will be utterely disappointed. And this man here, he has no idea what Madara have really planned. Kabuto won't succeed with using Madara against me, not now when Rinnegan exists not only in Nagato anymore. Things are going exactly as planned. _Obito looked down at Zetsu, who looked back. They both knew what was going to get down.

"Time to move up to phase one of our plans, to begin the nightmares." The man who Obito and Zetsu were following suddenly announced.

"I wouldn't say no to that." White Zetsu said as he smiled.

"Akatsuki will face the consequences that they have caused against the four of us, we will make their lives a nightmare." The man in darkness added.

_The four of us?_ Obito thought in confussion.

"And when they have gathered all of the tailed beasts; using the Rinnegan, we will get the statue to us and awaken Ten Tails."


	4. Chapter 4: Sand and Hearts - Part 1

The powerful wind blocked out all the sound, the desert sun stripped off all the concerns - making you only focus on the warmth. Through the sand and cactus of Land of Wind, were two of the most insidious beings traveling: Kakuzu and Hidan. Have not said a word to each other since the reunion, things were getting hard for Hidan. He had to talk, express himself, get a respond and just for the love of Jashin - JUST TALK.

_Damn Kakuzu, he thinks he is so cool. I always have to hear stuff like "Oh well done Kakuzu, you did a great job." or "Oh you got a lot of money this time! Hidan, you have to stop standing in the way of Kakuzu when he is getting money for our organization." BAH! The motherfucker thinks he is so enlightened, always above me and smarter. He is 100 years old or something, he has already lost it and has no idea what he is doing here. _Veins were popping on Hidan's forehead as he angrily closed his eyes. _He thinks I have wasted my time all these six months and done nothing, nothing! He is not talking to me on purpose, he pretends he is so focused on this god damn sun or all the sun getting in our sandals. Speaking of the sun and devil, I should've brought my hat. _Kakuzu suddenly took out the Akatsuki hat piece from under his cloak and put it on while not slowing down, as they were heading to Village Hidden in the Sand. Hidan looked at him carefully. _That motherfucker, he is such a whore. That does it! _

In an instant, Hidan took forth his scythe from his back and swung it to Kakuzu with all his might and speed right towards his face. Kakuzu quickly dodged the attack by getting down under the scythe, making the hat fall off. Both of Hidan's hands were on the scythe, so he quickly let go of it with his left hand while he was still trying to slow down the attack he had made with his right hand, and raised his fist to cover his chest the same moment Kakuzu kicked him with full force. Hidan flew up in the air by the kick, his blocking had saved him from any serious damages. Without stopping, he threw the scythe down at Kakuzu while he was still in the air, Kakuzu quickly jumped out of the way back the same moment the scythe hit the sand.

_Damn it, I need something more solid if I want to pull myself down! _Hidan let go of the scythe and let it fall down on the ground where he had thrown it at as he landed on the sand a few feet away. _Well, if I can't use melee attacks, then so be it. _Hidan suddenly pulled out a scroll from the satchel he had inside the cloak. Kakuzu stared at the scroll as Hidan held it up with his right hand, it had a text on it saying "Banana".

_Banana? Either has Hidan lost his mind even more or he got something very interesting - if it is not a banana. I should just capitulate, he is so predictable, this brat. I enjoyed those short hours of peace and calmity. _Kakuzu suddenly dropped his stance and walked to the hat lying on the sand in the middle of them. "I give up Hidan." He announced in a calm tone as he picked up the hat and walked to Hidan only to lend it to him.

"You give up? Oh come on!" Hidan spit on the ground as he put the scroll back inside his satchel and walked to the scythe to pick it up. Kakuzu kept on walking the same direction as they had done before Hidan's sudden attack. _Yeah, that scared him really good._

Hidan caught up to Kakuzu as he was putting the hat on for shade against the hot desert sun.

**-l-**

Hours had past, the sky had turn darker, and the temperature had sunken dramatically. They had been traveling through the rough winds of the country, with Hidan complaining at Kakuzu constantly.

_This is the definition of an eternal nightmare, or should I say hell? _Kakuzu did his absolute best to ignore the most provocative person in the world right behind him, constantly complaining about anything that will make Kakuzu's oil burn. _This brat, nothing works with him, there is no reconciliation, camaraderie or anything at all. _Things were the same as before, it was like the peace offering never happened between these two. Hidan probably remembered it, but found it less important than what he needs.

"Thirsty! Hungry! Shower! Boring! Tired!" Was what Kakuzu had heard since their battle. _Damn Kakuzu, he is so selfish. He is such a greedy heathen bastard who only cares about himself and money. May Jashin smite him some day. _"They should have picked Sasori and Deidara for this, after all, Sasori is from Hidden Sand and they have Deidara's stupid clay for transportation through this desert!" Hidan complained. Kakuzu did not reply. Hidan was about to shout when he suddenly noticed something, something that was far away but still visible, meaning that it must be large.

"Is that?"

"Yes." After hours and days of traveling through the desert, they had reached the territory of Village Hidden in the Sand. With the tools they had been provided by Pain and Konan, getting here was much faster than expected. An updated map of the nation plus an weapon arsenal summoned by one of the summoning scrolls was enough to provide clear directions and weapons to use to get inside blocked caves for shelter against the sandstorms.

"Finally! I can finally let loose a little bit." Hidan stretched his back, the sound of his spine cracking was high enough for the entire nation to hear. Obviously excited, the fury was seen in his eyes. This man was hungry for a massacre or a bloodbath for his evil god, he wanted to fight badly.

"No we cannot now, we need to wait some hours before invading the village and attack the Kazekage. We must be stealthy and precise, this mission cannot fail."

"Stealthy? When you're using your stupid jutsu, you're so much louder than me." Hidan murmured back.

"When it is midnight, we will sneak inside the village and if we are spotted, then we cannot hold back." Kakuzu replied angrily. _You need to think you fool, you honestly believe that we can just take down an entire village by just fighting the shinobi without a strategy?_

"Fine, but know this Kakuzu, I will be the one who will defeat the jinchuriki of One Tail."

_Fool. You are so blinded by your abilities that you cannot acknowledge the already existing ones. _Kakuzu shoke his head and proceeded walking. Since the dark night was approaching, the burning desert was getting colder with extreme haste. Like an oven that had been turned off. _This is enervating, joining Akatsuki, I sought access to greater power and prosperity - this is nothing like it. Hidan has doomed me, I wasn't expecting an platonic relationship - but this is disgraceful. I wish I could just divert him out of organization and work alone._

* * *

In the Village Hidden in the Sand, the Fifth Kazekage were resting in his office on a chair, staring out through the windows at the village he ruled. Feeling an unpleasant feeling in his chest, he could feel a coming storm. He closed his eyes and remained motionless.

"There is someone coming, can you feel it, Shukaku? In every sandcorn of the desert, the way the winds play and the storm of no clouds?"

When he opened his eyes, he found himself inside his own body, with a cage behind him where the One-tailed demon rested. Shukaku stared at Gaara without replying. Gaara turned around to Shukaku with his arms in cross.

_Note: Gaara wears the same armor/uniform/outfit as he always do, like the one he had when fighting Deidara._

"I am not the type to believe in bad feelings, but the desert has felt... unpleasent the past days." Gaara said in a bored tone.

"I have felt it as well." The giant sand demon replied with an aggressive tone.

"We have to deal with it, as the Kazekage, I must eliminate all threat. And as Shukaku, the hero of Hidden Sand, I am going to need you by my side." Gaara said in an calm tone, smiling carefully, he snapped his fingers and the same moment the cage opened up.

"Right!" Shukaku replied eagerly and smiled as the gates opened and released all of the chakra that had been stored inside the cage.

"We are going to find them before they get to us." Gaara said calmly as red bubbles started poppoing up all over his body, the cloak of One Tail.

"Let's go then!" Shukaku replied.

Gaara blinked and found himself back in his office, he was in the cloak of One Tail. Red chakra surrounding his body, forming one chakra tail and a large 'stomach'. He jumped out of the window, breaking the glass in great speed and as he was about to fall down - the sand he carried in his gourd came out and flew under his feet only to carry him, giving him the ability to fly. He flew to the direction where Kakuzu and Hidan were, flying above all the citizens down at the streets who were staring up at him with confused looks.

_Shukaku, remember that we cannot fail no matter what we do. For the sake of you, me and the entire village - we must fight to the very end!_

* * *

"You know what your problem is?" Hidan angrily shotued at Kakuzu. They were inside a small cave covered in sand, making it impossible to spot in this desert. Both sitting in the darkness on a rock right infront of each other. Kakuzu stared aggressively at Hidan, he was positive that this conversation would not grant anyone any jubiliation.

"What is it?" Kakuzu's voice was as dark and aggressive as ever.

"You!"

_This brat._

"I joined this stupid organization because of you."

"What do you mean by that?" Kakuzu asked in a suspicious tone.

"I had heard of your abilities, that you were an immortal as well. So joined because I have never met an immortal before." Hidan looked away.

"There is no such thing as im-"

"SHUT UP YOU OLD FUCKER! HOW CAN IMMORTALITY NOT EXIST WHEN WE CAN'T EVEN DIE?!" Hidan shouted out as he rose up and raised his fist in anger.

Kakuzu's temperature was getting higher, this was not good. "How can I be then my problem?" He asked, now seemed even more darker. "It is because you have never had a social life, so you treat everyone like garbage. That is exactly what you did to me when I joined!"

"Because you were annoying."

"How many partners did you have before me?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Exactly, it doesn't. Just to remind you, I am not someone you can kill off, literally. We will be stuck with each other for eternity. I am blessed by Jashin, and you were just a lucky bitch." Hidan turned around and sat down again.

_Eternity. Bitch._ Kakuzu was at his peak, he rose up from his seat as he hardened his body using the earth style technique, with amazing speed, he ran right to Hidan with a punch aimed right at him. Hidan who had lost his guard, luckily managed to block it with his scythe the exact same moment Kakuzu was about to hit him.

"This will be fun." Hidan said in a cocky tone, staring at the neon-green eyes swimming in an ocean of crimson.

Kakuzu did not reply and turned his skin back to normal as he took down his arm.

"What? No fighting?" Hidan asked in an disappointed tone.

"No." Kakuzu walked out of the cave to the desert with nothing more to express. Hidan put his scythe back on his back in disappointment and followed Kakuzu out. _Stupid old man. _Kakuzu started heading to the Village Hidden in the Sand and was followed by Hidan.

"Are we goi-"

"Yes."

Suddenly Kakuzu noticed a large amount of sand flying right above them, falling right at them. And it was a lot, a lot of sand. Kakuzu quickly put his hands together, and the same moment came up a large earth box from the ground, protecting the two Akatsuki members from the heavy sand falling right down at them.

"What the hell is going on?"

"The Kazekage must know we are here." Kakuzu replied as the earth shielding the two broke and fell down on the sand. They both looked up to the dark sky, seeing Gaara of the Desert in the first state of the tailed beast transformation standing on a cloud of sand.

"So it was the Akatsuki. How bothersome." Gaara said, staring down at the two under him with his arms in cross.


	5. Chapter 5: Sand and Hearts - Part 2

"KAKUZU! Isn't that our target?!" Hidan shouted out to Kakuzu who stood next to him as he was wiping of the sand dust from his shoulders. Gaara were right above them, standing on a cloud of sand with his arms in cross and was surrounded by red chakra.

_Impossible! Is One Tail cooperating with the Village Hidden in the Sand? I've read that this tailed beast is the one tailed beast which hates humans the most, next to Nine Tails. I spent the latest months studying every one of the nine of them, much like the Kazekage, One Tail, or, Shukaku can also manipulate sand - making the Kazekage receive the ultimate enhancement to his abilities. This battle may be tough._ "Hidan, I will deal with this." Kakuzu started to unbutton the top of his cloak.

"No way, I've waited months for some real fighting. You can go and suck yourself, I have not been satisfied with sacrificing weaklings for eight months." Hidan replied surprisingly calmly as he crossed his arms together.

"Fool. If you will fight the Kazekage, you'll be facing an huge disadvantage." Kakuzu replied as he threw the cloak on the ground, revealing his masks. Hidan looked closely, there were now a fifth mask in the middle of the four other ones.

"Hey Kakuzu! How come you now have six hearts?" Hidan pointed at Kakuzu's back.

"Hmph. The new mask is the heart of Orochimaru which I took eight months ago." Kakuzu replied back.

_Orochimaru? So it was the Akatsuki who killed him after all._ Gaara thought.

"Whatever, I still want to fight the Kazekage. You see, I also got some new tricks up my sleeve." Hidan said in a cocky and confident tone.

"You will get the next one." Kakuzu replied as he started grunting the same time as four of the hearts were struggling to come out.

"Fine." Hidan backed away a few feet to give more space to Gaara and Kakuzu.

The new green mask Kakuzu had gained were the only heart that did not jump out of his back. But the four other ones had jumped right out and were standing infront and next to him. Gaara stared down at them with an confused expression on his face. Hidan spit on the ground as he stared with hatred on his eyes at his partner who were getting all the fun. Suddenly the tendrills inside of Kakuzu were closing the holes all over the back that the hearts had emerged from. _Since I will be facing the Kazekage and a tailed beast together, this will get a lot harder than predicted._ Kakuzu thought.

_Note: They are standing the way they did on the fight in the original series when Kakuzu and Hidan face Shikamaru, Ino, Choji and Kakashi._

_Those black monsters with masks are his hearts? From the looks of it, he can also use those 'threads' to close wounds. Wait, don't tell me!_

"Are you Kakuzu, the man who had fought the Third Kazekage many years ago?" Gaara shouted out to Kakuzu.

_Seems the Kazekage has done his studies._ Kakuzu thought. "Yes, I am impressed by the fact that you know stuff that happened over thirty years ago. Judging by that, I suppose you know that he was able to keep me away from the village when I was attacking it." Kakuzu replied. _The Third Kazekage, who is now a puppet to Sasori, was an tough opponent. He made me learn that not all humans can be collected as bounties, not the ones with power, power to control people._

"I see, then I better not hold back." Gaara replied as an enormous sphere of sand emerged from the very sand Kakuzu were standing on. Kakuzu quickly performed a bunch of hand seals. _Water Style: Giant Waterfall!_ The water heart opened it's mouth and blew out a large ball of water to the giant sand sphere that were heading right to them. _The water is not powerful enough. _Kakuzu thought as he saw the sand clashing with the water and the sand clearly being the more powerful one. _Well then, Lightning Style: False Darkness!_ Suddenly the lightning mask opened the mouth and a lightning bolt came right out, hitting the water and combining with it. _The lightning and water together increases the force and makes it more destructive. Plus, sand is a form of earth, and lightning is the element's weakness. _Kakuzu thought as he saw the lightning-water-ball completely annihilate the sand sphere.

"I am impressed that you were able to overcome the sand made by me and Shukaku. However..." Suddenly the sand below Kakuzu and the hearts came right up and grabbed their legs. "Where there is sand, you can't evade my attacks."

"Hey! Need any help there old man?" Hidan shouted out in a cocky tone, smiling and taunting Kakuzu. Gaara lift up his arms and the sand that had grabbed Kakuzu and the hearts expanded and had almost completely covered them. The red chakra surrounding Gaara were expanding a little bit and bubbling more. _Not really. _Kakuzu smiled and clasped his hands together, the remaining mask on his back opened the mouth.

"Wood Style: Wood Dragon!" Kakuzu shouted out as a large wooden dragon came right out of the mouth and destroyed the sand that was about to capture Kakuzu. Gaara and Hidan were both shocked as they saw the dragon flying right towards Gaara. _How is it even possible, that kekkei genkai belonged to the First Hokage! _Gaara quickly put down his hands, making the sand surrounding the hearts and Kakuzu fall down. He quickly put his hands together, making enormous amount of sand come right up and protect him. The wooden dragon hit the sand. The sand successfully managed to hold back the wood but it should be able to penetrate it. Kakuzu spread his hands, and the wooden dragon fell down on the sand like it had died.

"HEY! KAKUZU!" Hidan shouted out from behind. "How the fuck can you do that?!"

"Silence Hidan." Kakuzu replied without looking back at him.

"Answer me you lame old fucker! I have never seen ninjutsu like that!"

"That is because it is the kekkei genkai of Hashirama Senju."

"Haschman sen who?" Hidan replied in an confused tone. Veins were popping up on Kakuzu's face.

"The first Hokage you imbecille!" Kakuzu angrily shouted back.

"What's an Hokage?" _That is it._ Just as Kakuzu was going to make his hearts attack Hidan, the scream of Gaara were heard from behind the sand shielding him. Kakuzu quickly performed another set of hand seals. _Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu! _The fire heart opened the mouth and blasted out a huge fire ball right towards Gaara. Suddenly the sand shielding Gaara fell down and Gaara looked a bit different. No, entirely different. He had entered the second jinchuriki form. He was now completely black and red with white round eyes. He roared fiercely, extinguishing the fire that were heading to him with just the pressure of his roar. The sand cloud disappeared, and he landed on the sand on all four with one big tail coming out of his back._  
_

"Finally, we can get serious." Kakuzu said.

* * *

"What is this?" Tsunade stared at a sheet of paper lying on her desk which Jiraiya who were standing infront of her had thrown there. Jiraiya looked confident and excited, he wanted the reactions of Tsunade. The paper had a list of names of shinobi in the village.

"That is the list of people I want to recruit for the new organization: Hikari Hanta."

"Hikari Hanta?"

_Note: Hikari Hanta is japanese translation for 'Light Hunters'. A dawn (Akatsuki) grants daylight, which in this case are the Akatsuki and the Leaf shinobi are the ones who are after the Akatsuki- Light Hunters._

"Every shinobi I have chosen has been picked carefully and with great concideration. I have studied their abilities, capabilities and their minds in battle. Much like the Akatsuki, everone I have chosen will be able to boost the us tremendously and can provide great benefits."

"I see." Tsunade looked down at the list.

**1. Kakashi Hatake: Possess the Sharingan and best Lightning user in the entire village.  
**

**2. Neji Hyuga: Possess the Byakugan and can provide the best defence against attacks for the organization.  
**

**3. Shikaku Nara:** **Known across the country as one of the best tacticians, can provide the greatest paralyzing abilities in Hidden Leaf and a part of the Ino-Shika-Cho.  
**

**4. Inoichi Yamanaka: Can gather intel from enemies by accessing their minds, can mind control enemies and is a part of the Ino-Shika-Cho.**

**5. Choza Akamichi: One of the shinobi who has the greatest strengths of our village, can expand body parts which might be proven to be useful and is a part of the Ino-Shika-Cho.**

**6. Sai: Can provide more numbers for our organization, using his ninjutsu to create artifical creatures.**

**7. Shino Aburame: Can track enemies, neutrilize poisons and steal chakra from enemies - resulting in the enemies weakening greatly.**

**8. Yamato: Possess one of the greatest kekkei genkai in history, Wood Release. **

**9. Naruto Uzumaki: Has enormous chakra, mastered the arts of Wind Style and can use highly classified jutsus.**

"Naruto? Are you sure about that?" Tsunade asked in an surprised and confused tone as she looked up to Jiraiya.

"Hmph." Jiraiya walked to the window behind Tsunade and leaned to the wall. He smiled. "I am never sure when it comes to that kid, but... he reminds me of his father. He sure is one curios fellow." Tsunade smiled. She was thinking about how he made a bet with her years ago, and how he would never give up to win the necklace. _He sure is._ Tsunade closed her eyes and couldn't hide her smile that she had gotten from the memories of the will of Naruto Uzumaki.

* * *

**Flashback of Lumi.**

"Why are you crying Lumi?" Lumi's father, the best friend Lumi had ever had in her entire life.

"I lost my doll." Lumi sobbed. She was four years old, short, wearing a small white torn dress. So tiny compared to her father. She looked up to her father who were standing next to her in her poor dirty room. Her father had short messy and spiky blonde hair, a lot of wrinkles and chocolate eyes.

"Cheer up my beautiful girl." Her father smiled to Lumi who looked up to him.

"But I have always had her, she has been my best friend in ages." Snot were coming out of the little girl's nose. Her father laughed as he put his hands behind his back.

"Is this the one you're looking for Lumi?" Her father suddenly took out the doll with a pink dress from behind of his back. Lumi excitedly jumped up and took it, hugging it and smiling.

"How did you do that dad?!" She looked up to him with her eyes sparkling as she was hugging the doll as hard as ever.

"Let's just say magic." He said, smiling. Lumi started laughing and hugged her father. He laughed back.

* * *

**Present time.**

_I wasn't there to save you father and mother. I have accepted my judgement, I was destined to live a life of misery from the very beginning. I still wonder everyday, how would my life look like if you were still alive and I would never had used the stars. _

Lumi were lying in her bed in the hotel she and Kane had ordered rooms in. She looked up to the ceiling, keeps on getting these images of her father and mother. Such a pity that her blind eyes see when they are supposed to be closed.

_I will get my vengeance on he who killed you two that day._ Lumi thought as she got an image of Bee, one of her former best friends.


	6. Chapter 6: Sand and Hearts - Part 3

"Let's get going then!" Kakuzu said as he started running towards the enraged Gaara. The four hearts running right behind him. "Wood Style: Living Tree!" Kakuzu shouted as he clasped his hands together. Kakuzu's Wood Style heart on his back suddenly opened the mouth, making a tree grow on the sand right behind him. The tree had three holes on it, two small ones next to each other and below them a large and wide one - it had eyes and a mouth and next to the eyes had two tree branches which are supposed to be the "arms". The tree started moving using the roots, it was however really slow compared to the other hearts. _I suppose the tree will be enough as an replacement for another heart to help. I can't overuse my Wood Release jutsus though, I am not capeable of that. _"Lightning Style: False Darkness. Fire Style: Searing Migraine. Water Style: Waterballs. Wind Style: Air Cutter." Kakuzu performed four sets of hand seals to activate all of his hearts' jutsus at the same time as running.

"Kakuzu remember that we aren't supposed to kill him you idiot!" Hidan shouted from the back. _He is so overrated, he is also always overdoing it, why can't he just let me have the fun. Oh my Jashin how I should be praised more. I haven't even got a chance to show my new tricks._

Gaara with amazing speed was gone in an instant, before you knew it, he was right infront of Kakuzu, punching his stomach so hard and wildly, making him fly away up to the air. The hearts suddenly appeared, blasting lightning bolts, water balls, fire bals and waves of air. Gaara lift up his hand/paw, engaging with the lightning and successfully repelling it, making the lightning heart electrecute itself.

* * *

Nagato opened his eyes, he was lying on dirt and grass. He saw tall trees all over the place, covering all the sunlight with the enormous leaves. It felt hot, like he was choking because of the heat. He tried to stand up but it felt way too hard, but he eventually got up. Wait a minute.

_I have legs?_ Nagato looked down at his legs and feet - they were there! His legs and feet were originally blasted away by paper bombs during the Akatsuki rebellion against Hanzo the Salamander and the former Hidden Rain. But somehow, his legs were there. He felt like the trees were way too big than what he thought. No wait another minute. Nagato looked down again, he was so close to the ground. _Have I been shrunk? Where am I?_ He heard birds chirping, sticks break and even the leaves fall - something was odd. He noticed that he wore the same clothes he wore as a child back in the days when it was just him, Konan and Yahiko - he was in his child form. _Almighty Push!_ Nagato raised his arms as he focused his chakra on blasting away the trees using the Almighty Push jutsu. Nothing happened. _I see, I cannot perform any jutsu._

"AAAAAAAAA!" A child voice suddenly screamed out from a distance. Nagato quickly turned around from where he heard the scream in pain. Nagato started running to where he had heard the scream. He ran through the bushes, vines, trees and not caring when sticks when up inside his feet - the scream was familiar. The scream was getting louder as Nagato was getting closer. Suddenly, the bushes covering the way were gone. Nagato saw a small tanned boy with long brown hair lying on a rock screaming and crying as he was tied to the rock. Around him stood two men in black robes with hoods on performing hand seals.

"Soon the ritual will be complete, and the spirits of the wild will be within this boy forever." Said one of the two men.

"When this is over, our village will have the perfected and most natural weapon ever made, surpassing legendary shinobi and the chance to eliminate once and for all the Village Hidden in the Leaves." The other man replied.

"Isn't that right, Kane?" The first man laughed.

_What the hell is this? _Nagato thought as things were getting blurry.

Nagato woke up.

* * *

Kakuzu got up from the sand he had landed on. _So his sand armor plus the One Tail is enough to protect him from being completely annihilated, it will be a big problem if he will be able to repell all my attacks. Well then, how about ninjutsu that is untouchable and unblockable?_ Kakuzu suddenly put his hands together, and the lightning mask plus the fire mask ran back to his position. _Wind and water should do the trick._ The fire and lightning hearts jumped back into his back with their masks appearing on his back once more. Kakuzu remained with his hands together, focusing chakra on the water and wind mask. The wind and water mask kept on blasting out powerful wind and water balls from the mouths. Gaara jumped up in the air, avoiding getting hit by the waves and balls of the two hearts. Suddenly the sand started moving below him, forming an enourmous wave of sand heading right to the hearts plus Kakuzu and the tree.

"Kakuzu you idiot! Do something! You suck balls!" Hidan shouted from behind.

"You watch, you idiot." Kakuzu murmured as he clasped his hands together. Suddenly, the tree roared and up from the sand emerged one enourmous tree wall that was blocking out the sand wave. Kakuzu suddenly fell down on his knees grunting.

"What the hell are you doing you idiot?" Hidan shouted.

_Damn it, two of my hearts were crushed in that sand wave. The wall didn't cover those two hearts, meaning that I only have my Wood Release left to use, but it is so chakra consuming. _Kakuzu rose up again and clasped his hands together. "Wood Style: Tree Poison!" Suddenly the tree opened the mouth, leaking out green gas. _If I can just get Gaara down and close enough to the tree, he will collapse after had inhaled it. _

Gaara roared out from the sand cloud he was standing on, when suddenly blue and red bubbles appeared in the air infront of him.

"No way, he is planning on using the Tailed Beast Bomb!" Kakuzu quickly clasped his hands together, making the tree stop releasing gas and move the branches again. "Wood Style: Wood Barrier!" The enormous wooden wall collapsed since Kakuzu was no longer infusing his chakra in it. _I think I understand why Orochimaru did not use the Wood Release when we fought eight months ago, it was too chakra consuming. I studied the arts of Wood Release that Hashirama Senju had performed before his death, some of these jutsus were never used when I fought him over 70 years ago, so what exactly are the risks of using this other than loss of chakra?_ A small black/purple ball had been formed of the blue and red chakra bubbles made by Gaara in his V2 of Tailed Beast Mode, when suddenly he ate it. _Here it comes._

* * *

_Where am I? _

Lumi looked around her surroundings, she was inside a dark room with stone walls and floors, a bed with green sheets, two round windows on the wall next to the bed, a white carpet with red lines, a stone table attached to the wall with a small table lamp and pictures of a family. It was night. She walked over to the four pictures. In the pictures were a man with red messy hair, a woman with long brown hair and another eldery woman with grey hair. The final picture were the man with red hair and the woman with brown hair embracing a baby with red hair. Lumi looked down, she were wearing a white torn dress.

_Why am I wearing this? Is this a dream? No, everything feels too real. Could it be the same as last time?_

Suddenly, she heard the door open behind her, she instantly turned around in shock. She saw two people walking in, it was the man with red hair and the woman with brown hair. They were making weird noises as they were heading in, they didn't look at Lumi.

"..." _How come I can't talk? _No voice were coming out of Lumi's mouth. Suddenly she heard laughter, she saw a small boy with red messy hair and chocolate brown eyes walking in, wearing an robe and a scarf. He had his hands up, moving his fingers. She looked over to the man and woman, they looked like puppets.

_Is this... Sasori?_

Sasori made the puppets sit at the edge of the bed. He smiled and giggled. He looked happy. He put his hands down and the puppets were no longer moving or making strange noises, which was the sound of creaking tree. Lumi stood right infront of the puppets, motionless. Sasori suddenly ran right through Lumi and sat in the middle of the two puppets. As he was sitting, he hugged himself, at the same time the two puppets hugged him as well.

_Is this what you had to go through, Sasori?_ Lumi just kept on staring at Sasori who smiled, he looked happy, he was happy.

"It is just the three of us forever." Sasori said quietly as he made them hug him harder. Suddenly tears ran down from his eyes, but he was still smiling.

_Sasori..._ Suddenly the room started moving, like there was an earthquake. But yet, there was none. The room were fading, disappearing.

Lumi woke up.

* * *

"Come on Kakuzu, you suck so bad. He is going to blow you up if you aren't doing anything you old fucker!" Hidan shouted.

Gaara blasted out the enormous Tailed Beast Bomb heading right towards Kakuzu. Suddenly an enormous tree grew out of the sand infront of Kakuzu, really, really big tree. The bomb hit the tree and exploded greatly, destroying the tree completely but Kakuzu was spared thanks to the living tree that had summoned forth the enormous tree. The explosion grew bigger as it destroyed the entire tree, the living tree, the sand - leaving an huge crater on the sand. _My chakra, it is fading. I am getting weaker, first were two of my hearts crushed and now I can't even touch him without shielding myself by every move._Kakuzu suddenly started coughing and fell down on his knees as the smoke of the attack were clearing, he looked up, only to see Gaara roaring more, completing the Tailed Beast transformation.

"Hey Kakuzu, as you probably know, he is transforming into One Tail now. And from the looks of it, you used your abilities the wrong way, leading to your downfall. If you want me to, I can maybe help a little?" Hidan smiled with a cocky face expression towards Kakuzu who were on his knees.

"Fine Hidan. You can fight, but do not try to kill him you imbecille." Kakuzu's voice was threatening, Hidan's taunting had been successful. _He is right though, I used my abilities the wrong way, that is why I wasn't able to damage our target._ Kakuzu thought in anger. Kakuzu looked up, he no longer saw a small red/black guy with one tail, he saw Shukaku, One Tail himself. Hidan walked next to Kakuzu and took out a scroll from his satchel inside his cloak, on the scroll was "BANANA" written.

"This will be fun." Hidan smiled as he held up the scroll towards Shukaku.

_I do not understand how the Kazekage and the One Tailed Beast were able to become allies, their powers are both mixing with each other, making them both more powerful than they ever were. What does that summoning scroll contain? I will make sure your time in hell will be worse than you can imagen if you fail._


	7. Chapter 7: The Living Ghost - Part 1

There were flames, pools of black water because of all the smoke, rocks that had been thrown everywhere, craters on the sand like a powerful whirlwind had been blown there. As Kakuzu got up from the ground on his knees, he saw his surroundings as Hidan were standing in the middle of it all. The sun had risen and the sky were light blue again.

_"_I never would have imagened that you would have gotten something like that in your possession, Hidan." Kakuzu shouted out to Hidan who turned around, breathing heavily, covered in dirt and his once perfect hair were now completely messed up.

"I guess I am just the lucky one." Hidan replied in a cocky tone.

"Where did you get that?"

"Jashin blesses his followers with valueable treasures, Kakuzu. Maybe you should-" Kakuzu's hand suddenly appeared, grabbing Hidan's throat.

"Tell me how you got it." Kakuzu suddenly were right infront of him. Looking as aggressive as always.

"Okay... I will tell you." Hidan had gotten Kakuzu's attention.

"I got it from..." Kakuzu leaned closer.

"Lend me your ear." Hidan said quietly. Kakuzu's ear was really close to Hidan's mouth.

"I got it from..." Kakuzu felt the blood flowing.

"AAAAAAAAA!" Hidan screamed in his ear, making him go back in shock. Hidan took the opportunity to bite his hand and start running as he laughed like a maniac.

_Son of a bitch!_ Kakuzu picked up Gaara from the ground, covered in blood, dirt and his clothes were completely torn up. _I will find out eventually, brusque brat. _Kakuzu breathed heavily in anger as he put Gaara on his shoulder. _But, I wonder. How could he have found that? It hasn't been seen for years, not after those two died. _Kakuzu got an mental image of two figures in black, standing next to each other, both had a lot of long, big hair and horns.

* * *

"As always, Itachi. You like to cross the line." Kisame said to Itachi who were standing right next to him. Around them were black flames, fallen and shattered pillars, dead sharks with scrathes and clouds of smoke. They were standing outside a white temple, which were no longer recognizable. "But then again, your eyes don't seem to know a limit." Kisame smiled.

"Pick her up so we can get going, we are on a tight schedule." Itachi replied as he turned around and walked away from the ruins that he and Kisame had made, leaving the destroyed gardens. Kisame smiled as he picked up Yugito Nii, who looked completely messed up. Her clothes were torn, her hair had been a little burned and she was barely breathing.

"Don't you think we should have been a little more careful, Itachi?" Kisame asked in his regular cocky tone as he picked her up from the ruined stone floors.

"She is one of the few jinchuriki who controls the Tailed Beast inside of her, and is one of the only who bears the title of a "Perfect Jinchuriki"." Itachi replied in a serious tone.

"Some things never change, do they?" Kisame smiled, refeering to Itachi being serious and precise about everything he say and do.

"No, never." Itachi kept on walking as he got an image of his dead brother in his head. Kisame followed

"I guess we were just lucky that we had found her here in Land of Birds, so close to Land of Rivers where the hideout is."

"We were, it is a bit mysterious though - why would she be in this land, in this temple of nothing instead of Land of Lightning?" Itachi replied.

_Oh my, my Itachi. You carry a lot of surprises, a lot. Who would've thought that your brother's eyes would have affected you this much? Not only in power, but as well in personality. Oh well, I suppose you have always been that type where the limit is still unacknowledged. Your developement is always one step ahead of me. And you really have a sharp mind, thinking about everything._ Kisame smiled more so you could see his sharp predator teeth. "Who knows?"

* * *

"From this day on forward, we will be known as the hunters of light - Hikari Hanta. Each one of you were selected carefully and personally by me, as your leader." Jiraiya smiled proudly, bragging about how he is controlling each one of them. They were all standing inside the office of Lady Tsunade, all standing next to each other infront of Jiraiya and Tsunade.

"Did you had to wake up us so early because of this Pervy Sage?" Naruto asked, still standing in his slippers, hat and pajamas. Jiraiya stared angrily at Naruto, did not enjoy the fact that nobody liked Jiraiya as the leader.

"I am not a perv okay!" Jiraiya shouted out to him. Tsunade punched him in the face so he fell down on the floor.

"It's early, Jiraiya." Tsunade still looked like she did not care, but was not enjoying this much either.

"Lord Jiraiya, exactly what is this organization meant for?" Shikaku asked. Jiraiya rose up.

"Well, Akatsuki is on the move. We suspect that they are after all of the nine jinchuriki. Furthermore, we sense a war coming." Jiraiya explained.

"A war?!" All the newly recruited members of the organization were shocked. It was this early in the morning, and the first thing they hear is that they will hunt after the world's most dangerous criminals and that there might be a war coming. Plus, Naruto who is among these members is one of Akatsuki's targets.

"As much as I hate to say this, I do not believe that we are enough to take them by ourselves. All of the members together have the power to rule this world, and with the tailed beasts, there is no wondering how far they'll get." Neji said.

"You are right Neji, they are all S-rank shinboi who could probably win over us easily. But we won't be so foolish to attack them the way we are now, and they together. This will be the most hard S-rank mission we all will get in a lifetime." Jiraiya looked over to Naruto. Naruto looked down and seemed angry. "Everyone here will receive a gift from the council, treasures of Hidden Leaf's legends." Naruto suddenly looked up. A few months earlier had Naruto just learned about Minato being his father - what was Jiraiya having in mind?

"But Lord Jiraiya! Those items are prohibited for anyone to use, they are the legacy of our greatest shinobi throughout history and not all of us will be capeable of using them." Yamato shouted out.

"Hmph, I know that." Jiraiya smiled. "But all of you were chosen for special reasons, as all of these tools suits you perfectly." Kakashi raised one of his eyebrows as he heard how confident Jiraiya sounded. This was interesting. "All stand in a line of order, we will present to you your gifts for our mission to eliminate Akatsuki. Do not worry, I will instruct all of your with more clear instructions some other time, for now, your gifts." Everyone started pushing each other as they were trying to form a proper line infront of Jiraiya and Tsunade. Neji was the first one to stand before Jiraiya and Tsunade.

"Neji, you are a fine young Jounin, we did hesitate upon giving you this but we are sure that you will take care of it and not use it recklessly." Jiraiya suddenly took out a book from a box that were behind him and Tsunade. The book was white, looked really old and on the front cover it only said '**Hyuga Clan**' in black bold letters.

"What is this?" Neji asked as he grabbed the book from Jiraya as he was handing it over.

"That book contains all of the secret and hidden ninjutsu known to the Hyuga Clan and the Byakugan. I have never read it myself, but from what I have heard, they were meant to be hidden for a reason. The very first Hyuga Elder in our village had brought this book and upon his death, he clearly said that the contents of the book may never get out since it contains the secrets of powerful ninjutsu that may be impossible for an Hyuga to handle. But, we think that you were the best one to be able to deal with this." Jiraiya explained as Neji nodded and bowed, walking out of the room. Next was Kakashi. Jiraiya suddenly took out a metal box from the box standing on Tsunade's desk, handing it over to Kakashi. Kakashi opened the box, when suddenly a ray of light came out of it.

"Kakashi, you are Hidden Leaf's best Lightning user, which is why we will give you that legendary sword: Sword of the Thunder God. It once belonged to Tobirama Senju, the second hokage. Make that sword your new main weapon." Kakashi bowed without saying a word as he walked away, shutting the box. Next one to come was Naruto. Naruto sleepily took his hands forth, yawning. Out of the big box, Jiraiya took out an enormous scroll that was wrapped with leather.

"Does this look familiar Naruto?" Jiraiya asked. Naruto's mouth was opened as drool was coming down from his mouth. He was clueless.

"Uhm... some pervy never ending comic?"

"It's the scroll you stole that once belonged to the First Hokage!" Jiraiya shouted, smacking Naruto's head. "Anyway, the scroll contains S-rank ninjutsu which were used by Hashirama, you learned the Shadow Clone technique from it."

"Uhh... uhm... uh... Oh yeah, that one!" Naruto suddenly remembered.

_Note: To be clear, the scroll Naruto stole on the very first beginning of the series._

"But, Lord Jiraiya! That scroll contains ninjutsu that has been declared forbidden and has been sworn to never been mentioned again, and-" Shikaku was interuppted.

"We have made up our minds, Naruto is going to have that scroll. It is his now, if he doesn't take responsibility for it, he is the one paying the consequences." Tsunade interuppted.

* * *

"It says that Three Tails have an unpetrenable shield, can form itself to a ball and roll with great speed, can release a fog that can cause extreme hallucinations, create nearly unbreakable coral and capture an target with it, can swim incredibly fast and can create shockwaves to repell attacks." Kane read to Lumi from one of the scrolls they had gotten from Pain and Konan.

"Why were we specifically picked to capture it? It would've been more reasonable to let Kisame to capture it, considering his Water ninjutsu skills." Lumi replied. Kane was holding Kumi's hand, leading the blind girl through the woods they were walking through. It was foggy, cold and it was blowing a bit. They were following a dirt road, going up on the hills and through high grass and so on.

"There is a reason for everything Lumi." Kane replied. Lumi raised one eyebrow, what did he mean by that?

_What is it that made this man an S-rank criminal, good enough to join this organization?_

"Is there any particular one in your mind?" Lumi asked. Kane turned around to the blind girl, whose hand he was holding, he smiled a bit awkwardly.

"Well, let's just say that I am the perfect opponent for any tailed beast there is." He said in a positive tone.

"Interesting. Better not cross the line then." Lumi replied, still sounding bored. Kane suddenly tightened his grip on Lumi's hand. He started holding harder and harder as they were still walking deeper into the woods.

_Cross the line._ Kane thought. It repeated multiple times in his head. "There is no line." Kane said quietly.

"Let go of my hand." Lumi said calmly. Kane suddenly snapped back, letting go of her hand as they continued walking.


	8. Chapter 8: The Living Ghost - Part 2

Itachi and Kisame were walking through a forest in Land of Birds - heading back to the base. Yugito Nii was lying on top of Samehada as Kisame was carrying it on his shoulder. He looked at Itachi as he was a little bit behind, staring and wondering. He tried to remain focused at walking at the same time, since there were many bumps and tree roots on the muddy path.

_Well Itachi, it was just like you said. Things have changed since our fight against Orochimaru, we were both nearly killed - so was some of our only allies. He was always one step ahead of Akatsuki, he had prepared every single thing before he even knew it was going to happen. Hypothesis, tests, results was all he needed to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan. Five days of already completed training with the Snake Sage and he hade already mastered the arts of Sage Mode. The permanent body he had spared for so long was finally captured and he was granted permanent immortality. Not even you, were able to damage him, it took seven of our members to finally put him down. I always suspected that you still had a strong link to your younger brother. When we fought this young beautiful woman, you didn't hold back._

* * *

**Flashback of Kisame.**

Kisame and Itachi were standing inside a large temple built by stone and it was designed/crafted very carefully with a lot of details. The temple was filled with angelic statues coming out of the walls, large pillars coming down from the floor and leading up to the roof, and then there was that big fountain in the middle of the temple behind Itachi and Kisame. Infront of them was Yugito Nii, the host of Matatabi a.k.a Two Tails a.k.a the Living Ghost.

"Akatsuki? This might be your unlucky day, for underestimating me." Yugito shouted out to the two men in black cloaks with red clouds printed on it. They stood infront of the fountain, facing Yugito who were standing just by a wall. The temple was really dark with only light coming out from the left and right parts of the room from giant windows.

"We suggest you surrender yourself Yugito Nii of the Hidden Cloud. We have come not for you, but for the beast living inside of you. The beast that is unfortunately blocked by your life." Itachi replied as he suddenly activated his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. The eyes he had activated was a combination of his and Sasuke's Mangekyo Sharingans.

_Note: Exactly like the ones Sasuke have._

"We know all about you, Yugito. Reading your profile, we learned that you are adept to Fire ninjutsu, you are very swift and you have full access and control over Matatabi. Not to mention that you have those long claws that can be nasty at certain situations." Kisame said calmly to Yugito, giving her an unpleasent and uncomfortable dark smile. Yugito grunted.

_How can they know about my abilities? What exactly is the Akatsuki? Wait, Akatsuki... no way! _"Akatsuki, so it was your organization that was behind the Land of Sound massacre that occured months ago?" Yugito asked in a cocky tone, but found it hard to resist sweating out of stress.

"If that is how you would like to paint your picture of us, then we will be happy to capture you with no regrets." Kisame threw Yugito a dark smile.

"You should know sharkman, that cats love eating fish." Yugito informed in cocky tone, making Kisame's smile wider. Kisame grabbed Samehada but was interuppted by Itachi's hand before he had a chance to take it out.

"Leave it be Kisame. I will take care of this matter." Itachi stepped forth.

"Hmph. Have it your way, Itachi." Kisame said, taking one step back but still keeping his smile up. Out of Yugito's back grew out two blue tails with black stripes on them, burning like chakra. Her teeth and finger nails started growing to a predator mouth and claws.

"It shouldn't have been this way." Itachi said peacefully. Yugito with great and amazing speed ran towards Itachi on all her four, she opened her mouth and her fangs came out. She appeared right infront of him, slicing him with her claws. Itachi stood still as blood came out of his wounds. Before Yugito was going to attack again, Itachi suddenly turned black and his body turned to multiple crows, flying in all directions. The crows banded together behind Yugito and formed Itachi again, with no wounds and he looked as bored as always. Before Yugito had the chance to turn around and throw another attack, Itachi jumped right to her and kicked her in the face, making her fly towards Kisame - who evaded her the last second, making her hit the fountain and fall into the water.

"Shouldn't we be more careful, Itachi?" Kisame asked in his usual cocky tone. Before Itachi had a chance to reply, Yugito appeared suddenly up in the air from the waters. She was about to land on Kisame and slice him with her claws, but before she had the chance, Kisame put his hands on the ground and summoned sharks that flew right up with their jaws open, ready to bite her. She hit them with her claws instead, slicing their stomachs, leaving an opening for Kisame who took the opportunity to jump up and punch her in the face. Just as Yugito was hit, she opened her mouth, and out came a black mouse with a blue burning aura. It ran down Kisame's arm, heading towards his face as Yugito was flying away because of the punch. Suddenly the mouse exploded, creating a large smoke cloud. Itachi still looked as bored as always as he saw Kisame appear from the cloud and land next to Itachi. Kisame's shoulder had been damaged and the cloak was torn up from the explosion, revealing his broken shoulder. Kisame however, smiled like it was nothing. Samehada suddenly was making some weird noise at the same time as the open wound closed and healed up.

"We read her profile, Kisame, you should've expected that." Itachi said calmly.

"I did expect it." Kisame smiled. He looked over to where Yugito had flown off to, she had hit the stone wall and shattered pillars on her way there. She did not move nor seem concious. "Has she been defeated, Itachi?"

"No, she is still there." Just as Itachi finished his sentance, Yugito got up and jumped down to the floor from the hole in the wall, opening her mouth, sending out multiple black rats burning in blue chakra and followed by them was a large fire ball which is some special extra hot one since it was coming from Matatabi. Itachi summoned his Susanoo, which was in it's first state. In it's right hand, it was holding a burning black sphere and in it's left hand, the Yata Mirror. As the rats first came, he blocked it all with the Yata Mirror easily. But he was aware that the fire was a much more powerful, so he sent out a ball of black flames to extinguish the fires of Matatabi from the sphere/orb his Susanoo was holding. Kisame just stood and smiled. Yugito looked shocked as she saw how they were able to encounter all of her attacks easily, even if she is using a portion of Matatabi's chakra.

_They can encounter all of my attacks, all of them. My Mouse Hairball technique is ineffective towards these two, that guy with those weird eyes could even stop my fire. I do not have much choice._ Yugito's eyes suddenly started glowing, her hair was going up. She got down on all of her four as an aura of blue chakra started surrounding her. The building started shaking. She was transforming to Matatabi.

"Kisame, take cover under my Susanoo, the building will collapse when her transformation is complete." Itachi looked over to Kisame who happily walked closer for cover.

"As you say, Itachi." Kisame smiled.

**End of Kisame's Flashback.**

* * *

_I guess, the games are over, isn't that right, Itachi? Both you and I signed up for this, so did eight others. Hidan... Sasori... Deidara... Kakuzu... Lumi... Konan... Pain... and now Kane, a mysterious fellow. _As he thought of every member, he got an image of them in his head. Everyone giving him the dirty looks they always give to each other. _Everyone is nothing but lost people, who ended up here in this organization - just like me._

"We have reached Land of Rivers, let's hurry to the base." Itachi said suddenly.

"As you say, Itachi." Kisame gave Itachi his taunting smile once more.

"The Village Hidden in the Cloud will shortly come after us, and their Raikage will be included when that time come. Let's go with full speed." Itachi and Kisame started running.

_Maybe is this just another new game._

* * *

"Undo the seal already you old fuck." Hidan and Kakuzu stood outside the blocked entrance to the hideout in Land of Rivers. Gaara was lying on Hidan's scythe, as Hidan carried it with his shoulder. "I can't believe that this had to happen."

"What are you talking about?" Kakuzu asked as he started performing hand seals.

"That Zetsu had to leave, he could've just brought the defeated targets back here so we could just go on much faster." Hidan spit on the ground. He looked up to the orange sky, the sun would go down soon.

"He was a traitor, just like Orochimaru." The stone moved out of the way, and there stood the Human Path of Nagato's Six Paths of Pain. Kakuzu and Hidan walked in slowly, following the Pain.

"We will begin the extraction of One Tail as soon as Kisame and Itachi arrive. They have captured the jinchuriki of Two Tails." Pain said in a dull tone.

"Whatever, I am going to take a shower." Hidan said as he threw Gaara on the dirty ground, laughing as he walked away. The stone rolled back and closed the entrance.

"The Kazekage was much harder than we had expected, we did not anticipate any of his movements nor knew what his cards were - it turned out that Shukaku had become an ally of Hidden Sand as well." Kakuzu said as he faced Pain.

"I understand, you two should count yourself lucky to have been able to fight against him. The Kazekage share the same ability as Shukaku, to manipulate sand - which means that he was enhanced greatly and reached a new level." The Human Path replied.

"That is exactly what happened." Kakuzu informed. "However, he was easily taken down after Hidan had demonstrated his new weapon, which lead to Hidan having all the advantages possible." Kakuzu added.

"What is that?"

"One of the weapons that had once belonged to Sage of Six Paths himself, and was last seen with two criminals of Hidden Cloud that had stolen it, the Gold and Silver Brothers - the Banana Palm Fan." Pain widened his eyes.

_Note: This is the fan more known in japanese as Bashōsen, which was in the possession of Ginkaku and Kinkaku as they fought against Darui and his party. It was later taken by Tenten._

Where Nagato actually was, in that machine that was supporting his life, he got a shocked facial expression. He was inside a dark room with light coming in from an window without glass, he was hidden in a mountain in Land of Rivers.

_Impossible. How did Hidan get his hands on that artifact? The weapon is too chakra consuming for him to wield, no wait, it's his immortality. He is able to use it recklessly because he can't die. Better keep my eyes on him._ Nagato looked up, his Rinnegan were glowing in the dark.


	9. Chapter 9: The Deal

"We have searched non-stop for like four days after these two jinchuriki, and still we haven't found a single clue about them! Why aren't we just getting more information about these two from a town? Yeah." Sasori and Deidara were following a path leading who knows where, the sky was grey, there were stones and mist all over the place, dead trees and it was completely silent. They had gotten to Land of Earth after have been flying for hours and their targets were either the host of Five Tails or Four Tails - Han or Roshi. Deidara had been complaining constantly to Sasori about their small success.

"No, we cannot." Sasori replied. As always, Deidara and Sasori were not getting along. Having a similar relationship like Kakuzu and Hidan, they however did not perfect each other in battle. Deidara sighed as he scrathed his head.

"You think that we will run into either one of those two by just following this stupid dead path?" Deidara asked as he started pressing the buttons on the scope covering his left eye, to have a better view of his surroundings.

"You read their profiles yourself, these two are not attached to their village and live by their own in this territory. They have weak connections to the world and have barely any contacts. I am disappointed that you, a former shinobi of the Hidden Stone have so poor intel on them." Sasori looked up with his Hiruko puppet, staring aggressively at his partner who were walking like he didn't care about Sasori's comment at all.

"Hmph. The difference between you and me Sasori, is the fact that you keep on attacking and attacking, without realizing that you have nothing to stand up for - considering the fact that we still haven't found either one of them." Deidara replied, putting his arms in cross as he smiled for himself, knowing the fact that Sasori will not be able to bring a comeback. Sasori angered.

_I can't believe I was forced to be stuck with such a brat. Why is it so hard to give me a partner who will just remain silent, follow the instructions and do what we have been told without complaining? _Sasori thought as he planned on starting to ignore Deidara for the rest of the mission.

* * *

Itachi and Kisame had almost reached the hideout, with them bringing the jinchuriki of Two Tails: Yugito Nii. They had been walking for a while now all the way from Land of Birds, so they were obviously exhausted. Hearing the soothing sounds from the streams of the rivers and waterfalls, they knew without looking into a map, that they were close.

"Kisame, look around at these summer forests." Itachi suddenly said to Kisame who were walking right behind him, staring at Itachi with a confused look. Kisame did as Itachi told him and looked around at the surroundings. "This may be one of our last moments in environments like this, war is coming." Itachi added. Kisame knew that Itachi like the calm and beautiful wonders of nature, so he was not so surpised that Itachi was saying something like this.

"I am surprised to see you like this, Itachi. Have you already gotten the chills?" Kisame smiled. Itachi did not reply, just kept on walking with the dull mask on his face.

"Don't carry her like that, treat a woman with a little care." Itachi looked back to Kisame, nodding his head towards Yugito who were in much pain and had been just thrown at the great sword Samehada.

"This little girl is a wild one, no need to show this wild animal any mercy." Kisame replied as he felt a little bad for disrespecting Itachi's attempt of gesture.

"As you say." Itachi replied. Itachi turned his head back towards the road going down the enormous hill, leading to their hideout at the bottom.

"We need to hurry, our leader will not be pleased for our slow movements." Itachi said as he turned back to Kisame.

"As you say, Itachi." Kisame replied.

"Kakuzu and Hidan have probably brought back the Kazekage to the hideout, and when we arrive, we have brought one of the top shinobi of the Hidden Cloud - there is no telling when the armies of Hidden Sand and Hidden Cloud appear... it may lead to war." Itachi added.

_So, that is what you mean, young one. I feel so rotten in your presence, considering how wise you are compared to me. _"Well then, we should just speed up." Kisame smiled. And in an instant, they were gone.

* * *

Five of the Six Paths of Pain and Konan had entered the borders of Land of Fire undetected and were heading straight towards Hidden Leaf Village in search of the jinchuriki of Nine Tails: Naruto Uzumaki. They were traveling through the trees by jumping from branch to branch with full speed and no stops. They had nearly reached the core of the country. Suddenly they stopped and landed down on the grass.

"What is it, Nagato?" Konan asked the five Pains standing before her. She looked bored but at the same time sounded a bit worried and confused.

"I have sensed one familiar and one unfamiliar chakra around us." The Animal Path replied in her enraged voice. Konan turned around and took two steps back to the Pains as she looked at the trees surrounding them.

_Is it Leaf Shinobi? No, it can't be. We had flown through the borders and it is impossible that they could have detected us at such heights. During these six months, Nagato hasn't been doing nothing, a fight against him right now is a grave mistake. _

"Come out now." The Deva Path said in an angry tone as all of the Pains looked around everywhere. Suddenly, out of the roots of a large tree came out Zetsu with only his upper half body right infront of Konan. The Pains nor Konan made a movement or expression.

"I am impressed that you were able to detect me and my little friend, despite that I had protected myself with a barrier and that he was under the ground." An unfamiliar cocky young voice suddenly said. Out of a tree behind the one Zetsu had gotten out of, stepped forth a man in a red robe. He wore a hood and from under the robe was stuck out a white living snake.

"Zetsu is a former member of my organization, I know all of his abilities." The Deva Path replied. "But I have never seen you before, yet your presence is familiar, how come?" He asked in his usual dull voice.

"That is none of your business actually." The man replied as he pushed his glasses closer to his face.

"Why have you followed us?" Konan asked.

"Don't worry you two, I am only here to make a deal. First of, let me introduce myself. I am Kabuto Yakushi, former companion of Orochimaru and subordinate of Sasori." Kabuto smiled, taking off the hood and revealing his face. He had snake white skin, small horns and the Sharingan on both of his eyes.

"Who do you work with?" The Deva Path asked.

"You will find out some other time my friend." Kabuto replied, smiling widely.

"What is this deal you want to propose?" The Deva Path asked once more.

_Nagato... don't proceed this._ Konan thought, feeling herself getting worried and feeling pain in her chest.

"I understand that you have mastered the arts of Rinnegan, and that is why you have all these five parts of yourself." Kabuto said, making the Pains widen their eyes. "At first, I couldn't figure out why. Is it because you have over used your eyes, and your body is no longer capeable of it? No, right? Because Rinnegan allows you to absorb chakra enough to restore your body's strength. And that is when my new companion, a man like you, told me all about you and Rinnegan." Kabuto smiled.

_He knows of my abilities, such a sneaky one._ "What are you getting at?" Pain asked. Konan stared hatefully at Kabuto and Zetsu, gathering chakra, ready to attack.

"I know about your legs, that you have lost them. I am willingly offering you, to restore them for you." Kabuto said. Making all of the Pains and Konan shocked.

_He is not lying. His intel and chakra levels are promising, he is not bluffing, I feel it. And the reports we had of Orochimaru, was that he was able to regenerate body parts or recreate himself. But what is he after? _"Tell me what you want."

"It is really nothing, Nagato. All that I want is information." Kabuto replied. Staring directly at the eyes of Yahiko's corpse. Konan felt her blood flowing and pumping. _  
_

_How dare they mock him, I will blast them._ Konan thought as she tightened her fists.

"Konan, remain calm." The Animal Path said. Konan instantly cooled off. "What information do you seek?" The Deva Path spoke once more.

"I just have one question about your eyes, that is it." Kabuto smiled even more widely. Zetsu sweated as he slowly got more inside the tree.

"Ask." The Deva Path replied.

"Did you learn the forbidden technique of Six Paths?" Kabuto asked. The surrounding air was so tense it could be cut with a knife. Nagato started sweating.

_Note: His real body, wherever it is hidden._

"Yes."

"Thank you." Kabuto smiled incredibly widely.

_Forbidden technique? What is he talking about?_ Konan thought as she stared at the Pains. Suddenly, out of the tree came out a wooden box which Zetsu was holding, he handed it over to Kabuto. Kabuto stared directly into Pain, Sharingan to Rinnegan.

"As promised, Nagato... your thank you gift." Kabuto placed the box carefully down on the grass.

"Know this, Kabuto." Kabuto stopped smiling. "If you have actually dared to trick me, or played games with me, I will not hesitate to use that technique on you. I can do it here and now, I have mastered it." Kabuto suddenly got shocked, and started sweating with Zetsu.

_Mastered? He was capeable of it?_ Kabuto suddenly smiled again. "Trust me, I wouldn't dare to do that to you." Kabuto said, disappearing with Zetsu, merging with the ground. Before they both completely vanished, Kabuto continued staring right at the eyes of the Pains, smiling with great confidence. The chakra was gone.

"What now, Nagato?" Konan asked.

"We will return to my body." The Animal Path walked forth and grabbed the box.

"As you say." Konan replied.

* * *

"This gotta be the worst uniform I have ever seen." Naruto stared at Jiraiya. The members of Hikari Hanta had gathered by the gate of Hidden Leaf. They all wore their new uniforms designed by Jiraiya, which had been handmade by the finest tailors of Hidden Leaf in one night, which Tsunade had refused to pay for... making Jiraiya broke, again. The uniforms were really nothing special, and was an easy design, but with expensive materials. There were black pants going all the way down to the feet where black shinobi boots are taking place. Then there was a white robe on the upper part of the body, revealing the middle of the chest of all members. And at last they wore white headbands saying "Hikari Hanta" and a Hidden Leaf symbol.

_Note: The white "robe" looks just like the one Neji wears in Shippuden but without the button and it is also revealing more of the chest, like the way Hidan has it.  
Note: The black pants are just regular pants, like Kakashi, Asuma and most Jounin wear.  
Note: The Headbands basically look like this: HIKARI HANTA [Hidden Leaf Symbol]._

"You are the one to talk, you shouldn't even be in this organization if it wasn't because of me agreeing with teaching you Sage Mode and perfecting Rasengan to Rasen Shuriken for one full year." Jiraiya shouted back, making Naruto silence in anger. All of the members of the new and fresh organization were standing next to each other, saying goodbye to their families and friends that were visiting them this sunny day. Despite this all have happened so quickly, everyone still understood that this was the most important crisis that had to be dealt with.

Naruto had a scroll attached to his back with a leather band going across his chest. Neji wore a small backpack, containing the book of the Hyuga Clan. Kakashi carried his new weapon where he usualy carries his kunais. The rest of the members carried backpacks as well, containing their new gifts.

_Note: Soon to be revealed what the others got._

Shikaku kissed his wife who had tears running down her face. "Promise me that you will come back safe." She cried.

"Yeah, yeah." He said in his bored voice, taking a few steps back. Suddenly, his eyes caught his son standing and leaning towards a wall in the shadows, staring at him with dead eyes. Shikaku looked away instantly, and continued walking back to the group. Ever since Asuma was brutally injured and almost died months ago, Shikamaru had given up on his life as a shinobi, and never talked to anyone except whenever he visited Asuma.

_Note: The Shining Stars - Chapter 3: When Hidan, Kakuzu and Lumi fought Team Asuma, and during their attempt to escape, they had been caught by the three Akatsuki members. Asuma successfully gave Ino, Shikamaru and Choji the chance to escape at the cost of his life. Luckily he survived, but lost his arm, lost the ability to speak, had his whole body burned and had half of his face completely destroyed. Shinobi days were over._


	10. Chapter 10: All New Ways

Each member were standing on an each finger of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path which of course had been summoned by their leader, inside the hideout. Kakuzu, Konan, Hidan, Itachi, Kisame and... Nagato were standing there physically, while Sasori, Deidara, Lumi and Kane were there with illusionary bodies using the Magic Lantern Technique. Everyone except for Konan were staring at Nagato, who nobody recognized since nobody had seen his true body. He hadn't yet explained either anything, starting with why he looked different, really old and skinny, why he had returned before bringing with him the jinchuriki of Nine Tails, why all of the six Pains are suddenly gone and what the hell is going on. Nearly a day had passed since the meeting with Kabuto and Zetsu and since Itachi and Kisame had returned to the hideout with Yugito Nii.

_Note: Look up "Magic Lantern Technique".  
_

"My name is Nagato and I am from the lost clan Uzumaki. I am not an S-rank criminal, because there is almost nobody in this world who knows of my existance. I am the leader of the Village Hidden in the Rain after had taken over it, it is as well my birthplace. My scratched headband does not represent me being a criminal, but my disloyalty to the former village it was of Hanzo the Salamander. My eyes... is called the Rinnegan, the same eyes that Sage of Six Paths himself possessed. Years ago, I battled Hanzo and he had managed to cripple me by destroying my legs, the Six Pains served as my extentions since this body were no longer able to fight. I however, found a way to restore my legs, which is why I will now work with this body, once more." Nagato closed his eyes as he took deep breaths, just by talking, he was exhausting his own weak body. The hideout was dead silence, every member stopped staring at their leader, accepting this unprepared introduction. Pain, or Nagato, had been a mystery to every member, no one had known anything about what his eyes are capeable of.

_So, this is your true form, Pain?_ Lumi and Itachi thought simultaneously.

"We will serve you no matter what form you take on, you are still our powerful and wise leader." Kisame said with his usual cocky tone, but he didn't smile as always.

"We remain loyal to Akatsuki and you, you are our leader." Kakuzu added.

"Whatever you come forth with, you are still the same to us." Deidara said.

"Come to me, Kisame." Nagato said as he raised his right arm up, Kisame did as he was ordered. He jumped from the giant finger towards Nagato. As Kisame landed on the same finger as Nagato, Nagato placed his hand on Kisame's left shoulder slowly. "I will drain out some of your chakra to restore my own strength, becuase you have the most chakra in this organization, meaning you will last long." It looked a bit funny, considering how tall Kisame was compared to Nagato and how Nagato yet was the frightening one. Kisame nodded in acceptance.

"As you say, leader." Kisame closed his eyes as Samehada suddenly started to making weird sounds, lending Kisame more chakra so he will be able to stand up while Nagato is absorbing his chakra, obviously, Nagato would need a lot of it. Suddenly, a small flare of light came out of Nagato's palm and Kisame's shoulder, Nagato had begun the process of absorbing. Every member noticed how Nagato's body suddenly got thicker, how the bones were no longer visible, how his body got more straightened and the meat growing, all going really fast. Kisame didn't look bothered, his chakra reaches the heights of a Tailed Beast, every member could even sense it.

_So, the Rinnegan grants the wielder the power to absorb chakra, I wonder what all of it's secrets is._ Kakuzu thought as he remembered when he battled the Six Paths of Pain himself when Akatsuki had tried to recruit him, obviously, Kakuzu was not victorious, that is when he began to admire their leader. Nagato suddenly stopped absorbing the chakra, he now looked completely normal and stronger than he was a minute ago. Nagato took down his arm from Kisame and began staring at the members.

_Note: His body looks exactly like it does when he absorbed Killer Bee's chakra as an reanimation during the war. He is also wearing the Akatsuki uniform with the leather belt inside of the cloak. And try to imagen that when he was a reanimation, he only absorbed a bit of Bee's chakra, that does not mean it was ever full._

_That pill that he took from that box, not only rebuilt his legs and feet with a weird and powerful cell increase, it also healed his unnatural wounds, pushing out the rodes he got from... that thing. But why? The lab found no traces of poison, dangerous or unknown chemicals or any hint of someone else's cells or chakra. It is more mysterious how nearly instant the recovery was. Is this what Orochimaru have been capeable of all along? _Konan thought as she sensed Nagato's great and full strength.

"Return to your position, Kisame." Nagato suddenly said, interuppting the many thoughts of the members. His voice now sounded younger, and he looked far from old now. Kisame nodded and jumped back next to Itachi and Konan. "Before we start, are there any questions?" Every member remained motionless. Nagato began to perform many hand seals. "Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals" He said as suddenly, blue chakra-made dragons flew out of the mouth of the statue, crashing down on Gaara and Yugito at the same time, making them hover up in the air inside a large bubble of chakra, draining out the Tailed Beast chakra sealed inside of them. Every member lift up two fingers, participating in the extraction + sealing.


	11. Chapter 11: Bonus Chapter: Card Game

"That is so unfair! You cheated!" Hidan threw the cards on the small table standing in the middle of him and Kakuzu who were seated on chairs, playing a normal card game. Deidara walked up to the two with an iretated look on his face. Kakuzu stared angrily at Hidan after had been accused of cheating several times before.

"No Hidan, I did not." Kakuzu replied angrily to the psychotic young adult.

"Yes you did!"

"I did not!"

"Then show the cards to me you bastard!" Hidan shouted back.

"I don't want to and I don't need to." Kakuzu replied.

"Oh my Jashin, that proves that you are a cheater!" Hidan pointed at Kakuzu and rose up from his seat. Kakuzu was about to reply when suddenly Deidara took the cards from his hand and the cards lying on the table which Hidan had thrown there. He kept Hidan's deck in his right hand and Kakuzu's deck at the left hand. There were a bunch of cards in the middle of the table, revealing that they were playing Is The Sea.

"Hidan, what number did you ask for?" Deidara asked, as he inspected the cards.

"All of his Fours." Hidan said. Deidara looked at Kakuzu's deck, he had three Fours.

"Kakuzu, you have three Fours in your deck. Yeah." Deidara stared at Kakuzu with a disappointed face expression.

"I KNEW IT!" Hidan shouted, looking as proud as ever. Lumi appeared from behind, hitting Hidan's head.

"STOP SCREAMING!" Lumi shouted at him from behind as Hidan fell down on the floor. She had been trying to rest on the couch, but that was obviously impossible with all the screaming and negative energies coming from the two zombies. Hidan rose up again, not responding to Lumi's attack, not that he still had the chance thanks to that she was now lying on the couch again.

"Why don't you check Hidan's deck once more, Deidara?" Kakuzu asked, staring at Deidara aggresively. Deidara did as he was hinted, suddenly Hidan didn't look so cocky.

"Hidan, you have no Fours in your deck. Yeah." Deidara stared at Hidan with a disappointed look this time. Hidan spit on the stone floor as he sat down again, no longer looking so confident as he did just a few seconds ago. The confidence had been transfered to Kakuzu who put his arms in cross.

"Told you." Kakuzu said in a cocky tone.

"But that still do not change the fact that you BOTH cheated. Yeah." Hidan and Kakuzu rose up, pointing at each other and started screaming about whose fault it was from the start. Nothing sounded logical thanks to the fact that nothing could be heard from the two at the same time.

"ALRIGHT." Lumi appeared once more, silencing the two as she walked next to Deidara. "Since you two can't play this stupid childish game properly, it is time we settle this with the ultimate card game which is fair and square." Hidan and Kakuzu sat down, staring at each other with confused looks.

"You don't mean...?" Deidara asked.

"Yes I do, The Red Hand." Lumi replied. Deidara and Lumi stared at Kakuzu with devilish looks, with evil smiles.

"How do you play that?" The two confused zombies asked.

"It is easy." Deidara started explaining. "There will be one secret card placed in the middle of the table which none of you get to see, while you two will split the remaining cards. You are not allowed to look at the cards as the front of it has to face the floor/table and it has to be kept as a stack in one of your hands. When the game begins, you two must draw the cards simultaneously and place them infront of the secret card and keep going until the both of you place a card with the same numbers, and when that happen, you must quickly place your hand on the secret card before your opponent and the loser of the round will get all of the cards. The way to win is simply by getting rid of all of your cards."

"And what happens with the secret card?" Kakuzu asked.

"Well, the winner get to see what card it is, and whatever the number may be, that is the amount of times you get to hit your opponent's hand as fast as possible." Deidara replied. Hidan and Kakuzu stared at each other with fierce eyelooks, it was on.

"But who will be the judge to see that the game is fair and that none of them look at their cards before they have placed them on the table?" Lumi asked.

"I will do it." Itachi suddenly appeared from behind of Lumi and Deidara.

"Oh I see." Deidara smiled. Itachi suddenly activated his Sharingan.

"With my eyes will I be able to see and make sure that nobody is cheating."

"Let's get started then."

**-l-**

Every member had gathered around the table. It was hot, tense and the action was reflecting on everyone's eyes. The torches had been lit, the window letting in the dark night's air had been opened and the cards had been mixed. Now, there was only Kakuzu, Hidan seated and around them were the other eight members. Konan bit her lip, Sasori spun his head and Kisame hugged Samehada.

"When I have counted to three... begin the game." Kane stood next to the table in the middle, holding both of his fingers up pointing towards Kakuzu and Hidan. Hidan swallowed his spit, it was not a good time to spit. Kakuzu took off his mask and hood, the heat of his body had to be released from it's boundaries. "Are the rules clear to both of you?" Kane asked, in response having both of them nodding. None of them let go of each other's sight.

_I cannot let this old fucker win, if he does, then there is no telling of what he will do to my hand, and whatever number the secret card is, it better not be high if I lose._

_If I let this psychotic freak win, he will go as far as taking the torture of my hand to a whole new level._

Kane, Konan, Kisame, Deidara walked behind Hidan, giving the sign that they were cheering for him. Lumi, Nagato, Itachi and Sasori walked behind Kakuzu, showing that they cheer for him.

"1." Kane suddenly said.

_This might determine everything._ Nagato thought as he felt the sweat going down his pale skin.

"2."

_This is the moment we have all been waiting for._ Konan thought as she bit her lip harder.

_This... is... The Red Hand._ Everyone in the chamber thought.

"3."

It happened so fast, Hidan and Kakuzu were simultaneously placing a card after a card on the table infront of the secret one. But everytime they put down their cards, it was always different ones.

Eight - Two

Five - Three

Ace - Eight

King - Knight. SMACK.

Kakuzu quickly hit the secret card with his hand, giving Hidan a slow reaction and he hit right after him. Everyone tried to comprehend what was going on, Kane was confused.

"Fail! Two different cards, and since Kakuzu hit first, he takes the cards." Kane announced.

"YES! See that you slow mind? Learn the difference between a King and a Knight." Hidan smiled. Kakuzu in anger took up all the cards lying on the table, excluding the secret card of course.

"Round Two." Kane said, making the two focus on the game again. "Begin!" The two began placing the cards.

Ace - Ace. SMACK.

Kakuzu hit the secret card before Hidan on the very first second of the game. He looked at Hidan with a bitchy look.

"Who cares? I only get one card." Hidan said, grabbing the card.

**-l-**

"Who cares? It's only six cards?" Hidan said with a cocky tone and had his arms in cross.

**-l-**

"Who cares? It's only ten cards?" Hidan said with tears running down his face, but still kept his cocky smile up, yet the pain was inside.

**-l-**

"Who cares? It's only the entire game." Hidan fell down on the table, his former fans went over to Kakuzu's side who were smiling proudly and his evil crimson-neon eyes were staring at Hidan who had tears running down his face.

"Well then, Kakuzu, why don't you reveal to us the secret card?" Kane asked.

"Gladly." Kakuzu replied. Hidan didn't dare to look, so he closed his eyes and leaned his head forward. Kakuzu placed his hand on the card and slowly began to drag it up. Every member watched how Kakuzu laughed as he knew that he would damage Hidan's hand so brutally. Hidan sat up, staring at the back of the card as Kakuzu held it up infront of him.

_I knew it, it is probably the Ace or King. Fourteen long hits on my hand._ Suddenly, Kakuzu stopped smiling and the rest of Akatsuki laughed as they stared and pointed at the card. _Wtf?_

"I can't believe it." Kakuzu threw the card on the floor and stormed out of the room, taking with him the hood and mask. Every member kept on laughing, Hidan didn't get anything.

"What is so damn funny about it?" Hidan rose up and walked toward the card lying on the floor. As he picked it up, he saw the front of it. "No way." It was the Joker.


	12. Chapter 12: The Eternal Man

"We have finally found it, the third Tailed Beast." Kane Sarutobi said to Lumi standing right behind him, pointing towards the gigantic lake shrouded with fog. The sky was blue, the air was very far away from dry and it was really cold. In the centre of the lake, lied Three Tails, asleep. Lumi and Kane were standing on atop of a cliff full of grass and mud.

"Let's deal with it quickly, before it awakes." Lumi replied, taking out a scroll from her belt under her cloak.

"Of course." Kane agreed.

"Leader told me that you have an exceptional large amount of skills, from fighting, to supporting to transportation, then taking it to our hideout won't be a problem before the arrival of Hidden Sand and possibly Hidden Cloud?" Lumi said.

"Indeed I have skills that can help us deal with this quickly, before the tracking down of the Village Hidden in the Sand, now let's get it." Kane replied. His golden eyes shined greater than the sun, which was covered in clouds. Lumi had managed to follow him due to her strong scent, despite being blind, and now, sensing the massive amount of chakra from the tailed beast, she knew where to strike. Both Lumi and Kane ran and jumped off the cliff with intense speed, flying towards the unconcious monster. As they were in the air right above the sleeping demon, Lumi opened the scroll which contained several letters and symbols, she placed her hand on it.

"Summoning Ninjutsu!" Lumi said. The symbols started glowing blue and out of the scroll came out an incredibly large amount, so much, water, coming down like a gigantic waterfall. It was summoned directly from the scroll, which they had been provided by Nagato and Konan.

_Note: Summoning Ninjutsu is another jutsu presented by me. Instead of summoning living (or dead) beings, it summons the sealed ninjutsu. But what makes it different from the ones used in the original series, it is that it can summon an endless amount of it. #Akatsuki._

As the water splashed down on Three Tails and the lake, it instantly woke up as it was pushed down into the water.

"We need to avoid getting into the fog!" Lumi shouted, realizing that she was falling down in her blinded state, getting closer to the fog of insanity. Kane suddenly took out another scroll which was given by Nagato and Konan.

"Summoning Ninjutsu!" Kane said, placing his hand on the scroll. The symbols on the scroll started glowing white. Suddenly, Lumi and Kane stopped falling, they were literally flying/hovering. "I knew the wind scroll would be perfect for this opportunity. We have about ten minutes before the effect disappears and we'll fall down to our deaths." Kane said.

"So we need to defeat it from up here? Watch." Lumi said, performing hand seals. "Star Style: Starfall." Suddenly, from above the clouds, sparkling flares of white energy light was falling down like rain, everywhere. "This should take it down before it has the chance of-" Suddenly, a large black ball from underwater appeared, flying right up towards Lumi and Kane. It was the Tailed Beast Bomb. Before the falling stars had the chance to reach the ground, Lumi suddenly pointed her finger towards the black ball, where the stars flew right at. The two enormous energies clashed, and before either had the chance of beating the pushing battle, both of the ninjutsu imploded, creating a massive explosion in the mid air above and under Three Tails and Lumi.

"I will deal with it, Three Tails have the strongest defence mechanism ever used, his shell. I know just the thing to take it down." Kane said, flying down into the fog.

_I wonder what he is doing._ Lumi thought, preparing another set of hand seals. "Star Style: Sun Beam Level 1." Lumi pointed down at the turtle, charging the beam of light that has never failed to penetrate anything. But suddenly, the Three Tails, the enormous demon, the giant monster flew right up in the air from underwater. As it flew right up, the shell it wielded had clear and visible cracks. It roared. It got up to the height level of Lumi, she saw how it's eye closed, it was going unconcious. Kane flew up and captured the Three Tails, holding it with his two hands right above him. Lumi just stared at him completely confused. _How was he able to reach that state of strength? It was as strong as mine strength when I enter the Star Mode._

"Let's hurry." Kane said, flying back to the cliff they stood on previously. Lumi followed.

* * *

**Location: Land of Order, Library of Kings.**

"Within the mysterious Land of Order, the opposite country of Land of Chaos, lies the sacred, ancient and enormous library, built by the land's former four kings. These kings once ruled the land hundreds of years ago, during the era of Sage of Six Paths. The four kings left the castle as a legacy of themselves, before they had been accepted as apprentices and followers of Six Paths himself. During the years, the library had been filled with priceless collections of rare artifacts, books and scrolls by one single individual: Broxx the Eternal. He was once a former shinobi of an forgotten village in that country, he never made it further than the ranks of a Genin, despite having the best scores in academy. He decided to give up on his life as a shinobi and found himself enjoying learning more than fighting. He was ranked E-rank in his fighting abilities, but S-rank in his mind capabilties." A man in a large white robe covering the entire body, with red nine '9s' and a circle with circles, holding a black staff with a golden ring and six rings hanging inside the ring, light colored spiky hair with two 'spikes' looking like horns and a red necklace with 6 '9s' walked inside a large hallway with a red carpet, brown wooden walls with stone statues standing by the sides, next to a masked man carrying a gunbai, known as Tobi.

"And you want to recruit him for our team because his intelligence is remarkable?" Obito asked, watching the giant doors they were getting closer to, where it is said that the library is. He looked above him, seeing the candles hang down from the ceiling with threads.

"Yes. Nobody still knows how he is still alive til this day. He has kept himself locked up in here with no contact with any human in the world, layed out traps and barriers protecting the library. Thanks to your Mangekyo Sharingan, we were able to teleport inside of here, the halls that nobody has wandered for centuaries." The man with the staff replied. He was slightly taller than Obito. Obito looked at the enormous rich and detailed paintings.

"How was he able to collect everything inside of this castle without ever leaving it?" Obito asked.

"He is older than the birth of shinobi, he has countless of tricks." The man answered.

"Is it related to your abilities?" Obito asked, staring with an aggressive look at the door they had reached.

"Far from it." The man replied, putting a single finger on the gigantic iron doors, ten times their size combined. It smashed open, flying away from the wall it was attached to a minute ago like it had been hit with an extremely powerful ninjutsu. The man and masked man walked inside the library. The walls all over the place had not a single space, it was all covered in many fat books of all colors. The paintings looked thousands of years old, the golden artifacts standing on tables and at some shelves next to books were craftmanship Obito had never seen before. With the Sharingan and Rinnegan Obito possessed, he saw a form of chakra from a person sitting on a chair behind a desk. The two walked forth. The man was staring right at the two larger men's eyes, red and purple. He was sitting on a red chair with one simple wooden table infront of him with nothing on it but blank papers.

"Are you Broxx?" The man with the staff and white robe asked. The seated man nodded. Broxx had dark skin, short white hair, light blue eyes, a white hood with white sweat pants, a white vest and bandage covering his arms and legs, with no shoes. "We have heard of your unique traits. That you are the oldest to have ever lived, the smartest to have ever lived, the man who have read over ten thousand books of history, science and beyond and most importantly, the wisest to have ever lived. You could put together ten people from the Nara clan that would still be nothing compared to you. I want to make a deal." The man suddenly announced. Broxx rose up from his seat, staring right at the eyes of the man standing before him next to the masked man. He suddenly nodded after had realized that the man infront of him wore the exact same clothes of someone he had met before, every single detail of it was correct and that he possessed the Rinnegan. He didn't even pay a single attention to Obito's eyes.

_He knows that it wasn't I who awakaned my Rinnegan. Just who is this man, and how is he capeable of this mind?_ Obito thought.

* * *

"Is everything packed?" Jiraiya asked to his members of Light Hunters. After had setup a camping spot in the borders of Land of Fire, close to the woods, the organization was heading towards Land of Rivers were it was rumored that Akatsuki's hideout was located.

"Shouldn't it been more logical if we just got to a local town instead of having to camp in the wild?" Naruto asked, staring at Jiraiya with a tired look on his face.

"It was your fault, wasn't it? Yamato had built a house for us using his Wood Release, but you insisted on staying outside and that you were fine with everything." Jiraiya replied, pointing at Naruto.

"YEAH? WELL IF IT WASN'T FOR YOUR STUPID MONEY STEALING BUSINESS FROM ME, I WOULD GLADLY ENJOY THE COMPANY INSIDE A WARM HOUSE INSTEAD OF SPITTING OUT ANTS ALL NIGHT!" Naruto pointed back, shouting at Jiraiya. "All adults always keep me out..." Naruto suddenly said, looking away. Jiraiya instantly calmed down, thinking about how Naruto have no idea that Minato and Kushina are his parents and what a great impact Sasuke's death was on him.

"You have started to grow some beard." Jiraiya smiled, making Naruto smile a little too. Suddenly, out of the wooden cabin walked out the rest of the members, all carrying their backpacks with ninja tools inside and rolled up mattresses. Nobody looked like having full energy, everyone had slept for like three hours. The only one who looked as normal as always, was Kakashi.

"Gather up." Jiraiya said, the members walked next to each other, standing in a large circle. "We received reports of Akatsuki gathering up in Land of Rivers, really close to Land of Wind. We suspect that they are to launch an attack on Hidden Sand, but the reasons are yet unknown. It is possible that their target is the Kazekage, but we are still uncertain. It is still possible that they are not going to attack Land of Wind, but if we imagen worst case scenario, then they should do that."

_Gaara... are they after you? _Naruto thought. Getting images of him and Gaara as kids, meeting for the first time in Chuunin Exams. And their long destined battle during the attack of Orochimaru. Jinchuriki vs Jinchuriki, leading two Gaara's toughest battle ever, within himself. _No matter what, do not fail if they come, Gaara. _Naruto's eyes turned red.


End file.
